How To Use Gabapentin For Opiate Withdrawal

More and more people are starting to learn about the benefits of gabapentin for opiate withdrawal symptoms. Gabapentin (brand name Neurontin) is a gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) analog that was originally developed for the treatment of epilepsy, pain relief, and neuropathic pain.

Gabapentin was initially synthesized to mimic the chemical structure of the neurotransmitter GABA. Gabapentin is effective in the treatment of social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder. Results with human and rat brain Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy indicate that gabapentin increases GABA synthesis, probably by modulating, as it does in-vitro, the action of the GABA synthetic enzyme, glutamic acid decarboxylase and the glutamate synthesizing enzyme, branched-chain amino acid transaminase.

Gabapentin is now one of the most common medications used on people with alcohol, crack, opiate and other addictions. The purpose of this article is to show you how gabapentin reduces the severity of withdrawal symptoms experienced by those physically dependent on opioid analgesics such as heroin, morphine, and Methadone. I will do this by explaining the abstract and results from two important studies on gabapentin for opiate withdrawal.

Gabapentin for Opiate Withdrawal Symptoms Study #1

The first study I will refer to on gabapentin for opiate withdrawal symptoms was done in Iran. There is an extremely potent drug in Iran called “Iranian crack” that many individuals have become addicted to. Iranian crack is mostly composed of condensed heroin. Although multiple medications have been studied for the treatment of dependence on various substances, no medications had previously been shown to have a robust effect on Iranian crack craving and its related side effects.

60 men ages 18 to 60 years old with an addiction to Iranian crack were put into two groups: gabapentin group and placebo group. During the double-blind phase, study medication was titrated to thirty capsules of either gabapentin or placebo orally 45 min prior to bedtime over a duration of one week. Each capsule received by the medication group contained 300 mg of gabapentin (one capsule) for the first day and then 300 mg/q12h for the second day, 300 mg/q8h for the third day, and 600 mg/q8h for the other days. Each subject received one capsule at bedtime for three nights, then two capsules at bedtime for four nights. After one week passed, the Subjective Opioid Withdrawal Scale (SOWS) was measured by a physician.

Results:Pain severity during the most of detoxification duration was significantly lower in the gabapentin group compared with the placebo group. It is suggested that gabapentin may have an effective role in removing heroin withdrawal-related pain.

Gabapentin for Opiate Withdrawal Symptoms Study #2

The second study done with gabapentin for opiate withdrawal symptoms consisted of 27 patients that were addicted to opiates. In the study, patients were put on methadone for a rapid three-week detoxification. They were then divided into two groups. The first group was given 900 mg of gabapentin for opiate withdrawal symptoms per day. The 2nd group was given 1600 mg of gabapentin for opiate withdrawal symptoms per day.

Results: Gabapentin with a dose of 1600 mg/d was significantly superior to a dose of 900 mg/d in decreasing severity of coldness, diarrhea, dysphoria, yawning, and muscle tension.

Gabapentin for Opiate Withdrawal Symptoms Dosage

Based on the findings from both studies, it appears as though one could use the same amount of gabapentin to achieve similar results. Unfortunately, gabapentin for opiate withdrawal symptoms is only available by prescription from a doctor. However, I did some research and found a powerful natural supplement available online without a prescription that can be used as a gabapentin for opiate withdrawal symptoms alternative.

Gabapentin for Opiate Withdrawal Symptoms Alternative

Recently I stumbled across some articles on a supplement called phenibut that piqued my interest. Since gabapentin was originally synthesized to mimic the neurotransmitter GABA, I wanted to find a strong natural alternative that was similar to this that was available without a prescription. Phenibut is a derivative of the natural neurotransmitter GABA, which has inhibitory qualities that can produce tranquilizing and anxiolytic (anxiety reducing) effects.

About a week ago I tried phenibut for the first time. I did this from a strictly investigative perspective to make sure that it worked on me before I felt comfortable recommending it for opiate withdrawal symptoms. I took a 500 mg dose, and within a few hours, I was feeling very relaxed. A few days later I took 1000 mg and noticed complete muscle relaxation, easing of tension, and I had a very deep sleep that night as well. It was by far the strongest natural remedy for anxiety reduction I’ve ever used. In fact, it was too strong for me, but it is the perfect strength for opiate withdrawal anxiety and insomnia.

If you aren’t able to obtain a prescription for gabapentin from your doctor, phenibut and/or an Opiate Withdrawal Supplement can be used to receive the following benefits during opiate withdrawal:

Matt Finch

Matt helps men and women that are dependent on opiates learn how to get off these drugs without getting sick. He is a former opiate addict and a former Substance Abuse Counselor at an Opiate Treatment Program (OTP). Matt has since become an Opiate Recovery Coach, Author, and Speaker.

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Comments

I have a script for Gabapentin. 300mg. I have been taking oxycodone for five years. I am taking around 200 mg a day. I want to know the best way to taper off and use the Gabapentin. How much do I need to take and do I need to take the Gabapentin with the oxycodone or just wait and start taking it when I taper off the oxycodone. I really have to work during this process so I need the most comfortable way to do it. Thanx.

Great article! I am actually tapering off subutex and I have a lot of gabapentin to help. I also have phenibut. I am a bit confused though as I was always told that Gabapentin does not raise gaba at all. I actually found this on Wikipedia.. “Despite the fact that gabapentin is a GABA analogue, and in spite of its name, it does not bind to the GABA receptors, does not convert into GABA or another GABA receptor agonist in vivo, and does not modulate GABA transport or metabolism.[70][11] There is currently no evidence that the effects of gabapentin are mediated by any mechanism other than inhibition of α2δ-containing VDCCs.[72][70] In accordance, inhibition of α2δ-1-containing VDCCs by gabapentin appears to be responsible for its anticonvulsant, analgesic, and anxiolytic effects.” Though I did find another study in which it they found that it increased cellular Gaba? Perhaps Gabapentin indirectly raises gaba? Also, Phenibut does increase gaba, but it only raise Gaba B, unlike xanax, valium, ect, that increase Gaba A. I don’t remeber how Gaba A receptors differ from Gaba B receptors, but I think SelkHacked has a good article on it. Anyway, both Gabapentin and Phenibut are definitely great tools to have to help through withdrawal! Great article by the way!

I’m weaning off of Tramadol 2 50’s twice a day. I’ll be cutting down a 1/4 of a tab a week at a time…any suggestions for using gabapentin during this wean down period? I have tons of 300mg gabs. Just wondering if this will make the wean down more comfortable? Many Thanks! Mike

Hi Matt. Your website is a godsend. Long story short, I am a long-term, high dose kratom user. I am ready to quit using gabapentin and supplements. I am not quite sure how to proceed. I know the gabapentin will get me through the acutes; it’s my brain I am worried about. I guess I am talking about PAWS. Due to the longevity of my kratom use, my brain is nowhere near “normal”. Does gabapentin also aid the brain in adjusting to life without kratom and opiates, or does it just cover the wd’s? I don’t know if I should do a quick kratom taper (about a week) while using gabapentin and supplements, then jump off the kratom and continue the gabapentin and supplements for a few weeks, OR just stop the kratom CT and use the gabapentin and supplements only. I also fear that tapering kratom will increase my gabapentin use by a weeek or two and increase my risk of becoming dependent on the gabapentin. I do have some clonidine that I can switch to after a few weeks of using the gabapentin so that I don’t become dependent on it. Any thoughts? I would appreciate any suggestions from Matt or anyone else taking this journey to freedom. Thank you.

Whoo hoo! Just a few days away from day 90 after my suboxone jump and doing very well. I can’t express or explain how much more enjoyable life is without opiates. Don’t misunderstand, I am not saying it is as easy (so to speak) than with opiates but so much more enjoyable. For the last 15 years opiates have been my crutch to get through the stress of life and motivation to work hard on the job and confidence in social situations that I always seemed to lack. So without that crutch I am left to face those things but that is ok. It is worth it to have to put more effort in areas I haven’t had to in the past to have that joy that comes at other times in life. I may not be speaking clearly on this but it makes sense in my head. Anyway my current regimend is 1500mg DLPA in the morning and 1000mg before lunch. I also take adrafinil on Monday Wednesday and Friday (nothing on Tuesday and Thursday except DLPA) and I take the weekends off from adrafinil. I have been taking a supplement on Saturday and Sunday in place of adrafinil that is called Focus Factor. This is actually formulated to help with adhd and mental capabilities but I have used it many times over the years while going through PAWS. For me it does help some to get through those days easier but haven’t know anyone lose to take this supplement for this purpose. For sleep I am still taking a few supplements as before, valerian root, Passion flower extract, magnesium glycinate, 5-htp and melatonin. I don’t really know if I even need these things to sleep at this point but I am sleeping great most nights so leav that alone for now. I do want to point out that I do still have cravings to use opiates at times and this is perfectly normal. Honestly I don’t think those will ever fully go away with any of us we just hav me to learn to live with it and fight that temptation with whatever works for us. I try to remember the pain it was to get off (first 3 weeks were the worst for me) and I don’t want to go through that again. I also wanted to share something that I have done but want to point out this may not be the best idea for everyone so I am not suggesting everyone should do this. I still have at least a weeks worth of suboxone that I will probably keep for a while longer. I have learned over the years that if I have at least something that I could take (but must deny myself) I have always done better. I can’t fully explain why but my theory is that when I start craving my mind panics when I have nothing and I go into seeking mode until I have something in my possession but of course I end up taking it right away. But a few times over the years I have quit with some held back and have been more successful possibly because I am not panicking to find something, it is right there I am just choosing not to take it. Like I said before, I know this isn’t for everyone but for me seems to help. I know that the last time I successfully jumped off of opiates (for nearly two years) I came off methadone and had several weeks of methadone wafers that I held for about a year before throwing them out. I can’t explain why this works for me but wanted to share in case it helps someone else. I will stop now but am so glad I am about to pass the 90 day mark. It have been a long road and still more road to go but it’s looking great from here. Stay strong my friends.

Hey Jeff!!!!! So good to hear from you with an update for all of us! I haven’t been counting the days but I was right behind you so I must be close to 90 also!!! Congrats!!!! And guess what? I also keep Suboxone on hand! It makes me feel so good to be able to resist it. I actually do not have any cravings at all. I dont know why. But i have hung onto my leftovers meds just because it makes me realize how far I have come. I too was a slave to this crap for about 15 years so we have that in common too. Thank you for sharing your current regimen. I need to get some adafinil. Did you order it online? Keep pushing through and press on!

Amy, glad to hear you are staying strong right behind me and congrats on making it this far. If you are doing good without adrafinil then you may not need it. I did order it online though. First I ordered powder form since it was cheaper and used a scale to dose but the taste is horrible so I ordered 300mg capsules and that is much easier to take and get the dose right. It is about 20 for 30 capsules where I order. Hope this helps.

People typically take it 3x a day, morning, day, and before bed. Sometimes if it makes them too tired during the day and they have stuff to do, they will take smaller doses, and save the larger dosage for nighttime.

Suboxone jump update day 54. Doing surprisingly well at this point. I have upoed my DLPA dose to 2000mg soon waking and 1000mg before lunch. I have also began taking adrafinil for energy and it has been amazingly h loudly with this. Only dosing 300mg upon waking every other day trying to avoid building a tolerance. Still taking the herbs I have mentioned a few times in earlier posts and added 5htp to the mix as well and sleeping great. I feel like my old self again for the most part. Sure I don’t have the newgy I had on suboxone but didn’t expect to. With that said I am finally suggesting the family do activities which I haven’t done since making the jump due to lack of energy. Just wanted to share my progress for anyone reading here and encourag all to make this jump and stick with it. It can be done though can be tough at times as well. Don’t give up my friends. I am not out of the woods yet (most relapses are within 90 day) but thriving at this point in the process. Stay strong.

Jeff good to hear about your progress! What were you trying to say about the adafinil? I wasn’t sure what you meant about loudly (probably a typo?). Also I am right behind you on Day 50 or so (I stopped counting! Lol) and first thing in the morning is the worst for me. It must be PAWS because I am so anxious and feel like my legs are running a race. Have you had that happen at all? I am taking the DLPA 2,000 in am and 1500 at noon. But first thing in the morning is the worst. Thanks, Amy

Hey Amy, good to hear from you. Glad you have made it this far. That was a typo on my post about adrafinil. I was just saying it has been helpful with energy. It sounds like you are having rls in the mornings based on how you described. I haven’t had rls in a while but was pretty bad early on at times. Are you still taking kratom during the day (I believe that was the same Amy posting before)? I am only guessing but maybe that is causing this symptom (since you are not dosing while asleep so waking up with rls). Just a thought. I can speak highly of adrafinil for helping with energy for me for the last few weeks. I am dosing 300mg every other morning as Matt suggested in his post on adrafinil. I am also drinking coffee while at work which works well with adrafinil for me as well. Hope you continue getting better with time. Take care and stay strong.

To anyone reading going through PAWS or about to go through PAWS buy some DLPA. This stuff has worked wonders for me just past the 30 day point off suboxone. Taking 1000mg twice daily currently and it’s giving me much more energy and motivation than I have had in over 30 days. Can’t believe I waited so long to start taking it. Check out Matt’s article here on this great amino acid combo. Stay strong my fellow opios.

Hey Jeff how are you doing? I just passed 30 days off of Suboxone and I am having a terrible time sleeping. It’s gotten worse and I’m wondering if this is part of PAWS? I wake up after a few hours of sleep and feel very anxious and restless like I have restless body syndrome lol. Please Remind me what you used for sleep? I have gabapentin and think I need to up my dose so that I can sleep. Currently in only taking 200 mg because i hate to feel dizzy and hungover the next day. How are you doing with sleep?

Suboxone jump day 30 update: wow it’s been 30 days and counting. Doing very well at this point. Still low energy and motivation but started taking dlpa yesterday and that seems to be helping already. The rest will come with time. Truth be told I look at it as I still have 60 more days to get through since most people relapse in the first 90 days so I must stay strong. I want to completely honsest so as to help others reading here so I want to point out that even at 30 days I still have cravings sometimes, not to get high or anything really just for energy and motivation. Every time a task comes up I think “I know how I can get this done easily” or sometimes I feel like I can’t do it without using but I have to remind myself that is just my body and mind looking for an excuse to use again. We have all been here and know this but coming from someone IN IT may help someone here. Also o tapered down off gabapentin and had maybe three nights where I didn’t sleep as well after stopping gabapentin but then has gotten better. I am back to sleeping at least 7 hours a night which is great. Still just taking the herbs I have mentioned before to help with sleep. Hope all of you are doing well.

Suboxone jump update – day 19: still doing well with low energy. Energy has gotten better fi sure but still not where I would like it to be. Again this is fully expected and something I will have to get through and possibly get used to for now. Truth be told it has been four years since I hav had to rely on my own energy anyway so for all I know this is back to normal. I have relied on suboxone for energy for so long this I’ll be an adjustment I must go through. I hav been tapering off gabap noon by 1/2 a 300mg capsule nightly (dropping 150mg each night) and had no issues so far. Took 300mg last night and 150mg tonight (night 19). I will report back once I have gone through the first night without gabapentin as well so thi info is out there fo others. I should note that I have been only taking gabapentin and herbs and vitamins for sleep so far on purpose so I can take take actual OTC sleep meds once gabapentin is discontinued to be sure there are no issues. Hopefully this will be an easy transition and no withdrawals or difficult nights will follow. Take care.

Suboxone jump update – day 23: hard to believe it’s been 23 days, doing very well at this point. I did learn that taking otc sleep meds was a mistake for me this early on. I tried that a few nights ago and it knocked me out but I woke up middle of the night with light rls (I reread Matt’s post here on why these antihistamines can cause rls and decided to stop taking them for a while). I have since went back to taking the herbs/vitamin I have mentioned a few times in previous posts and that is working much better. As for gabapentin I decided to taper down further before stropping. I went from 150mg to 100mg then 50mg last night and 25mg tonight just to hopefully prevent any w/d from this (I have a scale to measure doses but this could easily be estimated and be close enough to taper). I will report back with how this works in a few days after stopping completely. Amy, hope you are still doing well. Please post your progress if you have time. Also I found something that has been helping with my energy levels but want to give a little longer before sharing in case there are negative side effects (so far none at all including no issues sleeping). Stay strong, take care.

Amy, I don’t think it’s a bad batch of kratom since I did share it with someone at work and he seemed to like it. I have red Bali white Borneo and red mang da extract all purchased from the site Matt talks about. It very well could be that since I tried it only days one and two that I was nauseous from withdrawal alone. Either way I am glad the way it worked out except that I sent so much on the kratom. Maybe I can resell it to that guy at work or something :-). Even if I can’t its no big deal I guess. Still saving allot from not getting suboxone scripts. I still don’t have allot of energy and need to start tapering off gabap main at this point. I am ok in the mornings but after that start dragging throughout the day. I know it is only temporary so will get through it. Actually about to leave for vacation so maybe time away from everything will help with energy levels and getting back to normal again. Take care and stay strong.

Ohhhhh ok that makes sense. I’m glad it all worked out for you too! You’re doing so well and I wish there was a better way to stay in touch with you and others than to keep commenting on Matt’s articles LOL. Oh my goodness, so last night I didn’t take Lyrica and tried melatonin instead. BIG mistake. LOL I was awake all night with rls all through my body. So frustrating! I am on day 10 and still have zero cravings and no desire to go back on Suboxone. Unlike you, I have no energy in the mornings and I am better as the day moves on. I did order some DLPA and interested to see how that helps. Enjoy your vacation Jeff and I hope you get to sleep in (ha! With kids probably not possible!). Keep putting one foot in front of the other. Also I wonder how Ale is doing. Wish she could see the comments.

Yes you will probably need the lyrica for at least a few more days then you can start tapering off. I would taper rather than just stop if it were me. I am tapering the gabapentin now. Was at 900mg and took 750mg two nights ago and 690mg last night and no issues so far. I am not sleeping as long as I was but still doing ok. Unintentionally going to sleep around midnight and waking up around 7am so far. I generally don’t sleep as good on all vacations anyway due to the beds being so uncomfortable compared to my bed at home so that part is expected a little. I will drop to 450 mg tonight and see how that goes. That will be the lowest I have taken sinc this began 17 days ago. No craving really here as well just still don’t have much energy which isn’t as big a deal right now since we are centrally located where everything is here on vacation which is nice. I started taking whey protein today and will continue for the next month or so to give my brain the proteins it needs to repair itself. Maybe that will help with energy some, time will tell. Hope you continue to do well. I to wonder how Ale is doing, hopefully she is doing much better and on with her life. Take care.

Amy, glad to hear you are doing well at day 5 again. Lyrics is similar to gabapentin but stronger so that is certainly a good option to help with sleep during withdrawal. Currently I am taking valerian root, , magnesium glycinate, melatonin, and Passion flower to help sleep. I do have cdb oil as well but am not currently taking it unless needed for pain. I am new to this so not sure it will help during withdrawal. I do have a large bag of whey protein and dopa to start taking during the PAWS phase as well. That’s all I can think of atm but will post back if I remember anything else.

Hey Jeff I’m glad to hear that about lyrica. I had no idea. I know Matt says the Neurontin (Gabapentin) helps with brain recovery. So did you buy all of those supplements separately or did you find something that contains all of them? Which day has been your worst so far? Yesterday was day 5 and it was hard for me. I think you said you’re taking the Clonidine in the morning but that stuff knocks me out. I’ve tried taking half and can’t even handle that. So my daytime functioning is still abwork in progress. Since I do have 5 kids, I need energy during the day and not many things provide that boost that I desperately need, especially upon waking first thing in the morning.

Amy, yes having 5 kids you do need the energy for sure. I have two young kids and could not handle them without my wife for sure. I know all to well how much most moms go through in a daily basis and with little praise. Hang in there, your energy will get better for sure but Matt’s article could help speed that process up. Regarding your question, to me the first 7 days were the hardest to get through so far but the main complaint for me is lack of energy. All other symptoms were very mild with help of gabapentin and clonidine. If clonidine made me sleepy I would take becitecbed to help sleep but doesn’t seem to fit me. Who know maybe that is contributing to low energy and I haven’t realized it but it has helped with yawning and crawly skin during the day. In all honestly I could have gone without clonidine I believe as gabapentin is of much greater help, but still glad I have some. As for supplements I purchased them separately. All of them can be found in your local drug store or Walmart in the vitamin section (at least in my area) ordered online with fast shipping from some places. I am taking the supplements because they have helped me sleep (first couple days without them didn’t sleep as well) but partially because I didn’t want my body used to any sleep meds in case I need to take them to help stop gabapentin after a quick taper. Hopefully will not need sleep meds but you never know. I have tried many brands of valerian root and all seem to do well for me. Melatonin I prefer natrol fast dissolve but other brands do help as well. Passion flower and magnesium glycinate I buy in powder form from bulk supplements and cap them myself (capsules and machine are inexpensive) but have tried Swanson’s magnesium glycinate (must be glycinate to help with sleep, other magnesiums are not absorbed as well and are good for other things but not sleep) and that works very well for me as well. The Passion flower extract from them is the best I have tried and really goes well with the other supplements for me. Without the Passion flower I don’t sleep as well but others I have tried didn’t seem to help with sleep for me (tried them several months back). There are other supplements that can help but this has what has worked for me. I should add that without the gabapentin (or in your case lyrica) taking away rls I am not sure how well I would sleep even with taking the supplements. These products truly are a great help while going through opiate withdrawal but should be used with caution so as not to trade addictions.

Gotta say I did my detox in jail and had access to nothing not even blood pressure clonidine and it took about 10 days before I was able to sleep for more than an hour at a time. I already am prescribed gabapentin and it really does help with energy during the day and sleep at night. I’m on day 17 now and still have insomnia but the rls has gotten much better. You have to be careful with lyrica as you can overdose on it while not from gabapentin. Once you make it 2 weeks things get easier. It’s just an adjustment learning to get by with little sleep. I was lucky being cold turkey and having no symptoms other than rls in my feet and arms causing days with less than an hour of sleep. Just gotta keep pushing forward

Scott i appreciate that information about Lyrica. I am only taking 50 mg because it knocks me out and I end up feeling groggy and dizzy the next day. I may switch to melatonin. Great job, you should be proud of yourself. I dont know how you made it without something but you did.

I am taking 600 mg of gabapentin at night to help me sleep during this withdrawal. Will I experience withdrawal from The gabapentin? Do I need to somehow taper off that too. I have an old bottle of it that I’m using. They are 300 mg capsules so I cannot break them .

Yes it is best to taper off gabapentin. I have 300mg capsules as well and you can refuse to one capsule per day and open the capsule and take 1/2 of the powder if you want to taper even further. Hope this helps.

Kelly, I wanted to share that I ended up tapering off gabapentin all the way down to 25mg using 300mg capsules. I started with 900mg nightly then down to 600mg then 300mg then opened a capsule and took 1/2 the powder in a capsule (150mg) then down to 100mg then 50mg then 25mg. I did purchase a scale for about $15 to measure the smaller doses but this can easily be estimated to get lower each day. I hope you are doing well.

Suboxone jump update: day 9 went great!! Back to work today and worked through the day with no issues really. Night 8 I slept well also. The combo that works for me is 1000mg valerian root, 500mg magnesium glycinate, 5mg melatonin, and 500mg Passion flower extract. This combo has helped me sleep 8 hours the last two nights along with 600mg gabapentin for rls. Still only taking one dose of clonidine in the mornings to keep away yawning and creepy crawly skin during the day. Hope tonight and tomorrow goes as well as today did for sure. Also hope these posts are being posted here. I have been updating most days to help anyone who may be reading as it may help others to make the jump themselves. Like I posted on day 2, the first couple days I very much considered going back to suboxone, calling the doc to make an appt but am sooo glad I didn’t waiver and fall back down that path. I know I am not out of the woods yet a so so have several more days of withdrawal, possibly a week. With gabapentin and clonidine this has been much easier than I could have imagined so far. Yes there have been days where I had zero energy (mainly days I stayed at home) and I am still weaker than usual but heading in the right direction. Hope all is well with everyone else.

i am glad to read your posts and happy to know your on the right path. i have been here and there with taking sometimes lyrica or gabapentin and then relapsing. For me twp 300 mg pills are enough to keep the wd’s away for a few hours but then i need to dose again. my job just entails me to sit at the desk all day so it is possible for me to do this at work. What do you think is best , as in how much Gaba should i take to get through the day and how much during the night. Should i also buy Clonidine? Please advise me so that i can go and buy what i need once and for all. Also we dont have valerian root and melatonin. i can get xanax and other sleeping pills, what would you suggest i take for just 5-6 days till the worst of the withdrawals are over. Did you use Gaba to get over H withdrawals?

Hey Sayarah, clonidine certainly can help some with crawly skin and yawning. I have successfully used Xanax in the past for sleep during withdrawal as well, it knocks me out cold every time. Maybe check to see if there is an interaction with it and gabapentin before mixing them. For me 600mg to 900mg gabapentin is all I need to take away rls so I can sleep but if you have Xanax you may not need to dose gabapentin for sleep. We are all different so may be differ not for you. Many peopl take much higher doses than this. For me Xanax som times took 2 hours to kick in so keep that in mind when doseing hope this helps.

Hi I am coming off of 70mg of methadone its my third day im using kratom amd its working but i cant sleep. I have 300mg of gabapentin and took 2 tonight but im not sleeping. Im hoping to be pregnant which is why i got off the methadone i dont want my baby going through withdrawal. I need sleep but too scared to take more gabapentin. I have needed 1200mg in the past to sleeo during withdrawal. Please help

Kerri, I hope you see this, it wouldn’t let me reply to your comment for some reason. If you need 1200mg gabapentin that is a safe dose to take to help with sleep. I started low and worked up until I found what worked for me. You could also get some valerian root, Passion flower (bulk supplements) extract and magnesium glycinate (Swanson) to take that will help you sleep as well. Also grab some melatonin from any local store with vitamins/herbs. You could also try kava kava from the website below that Matt recommend getting kratom from. Any of these (or all) could help you get some sleep. Also you could ask your doc for a script for something as well. I have taken phenergan (nausea med) and that has done wonders for sleep during withdrawal for me. Of course a benzo is generally recommended but you may have a harder time getting one. Hope this helps. I am happy to share more info of what works for me if you think it will help.

Jeff your updates have helped me tremendously. Questions. Did you make the jump from Matt’s tapering suggestion or did you stop cold turkey at a low dose of Suboxone? Also is there a reason you chose to stop using the Kratom? I’m finding it extremely helpful so that’s why I am asking. Keep up the good work!

Hi Amy, I was at 1mg daily suboxone when I made the jump although the last day I only took 0.5mg in the morning. The kratom did help me feel better the first couple days but also created nausea so I tried not to take it one day jus to see if that helped the nausea and it w my away. Also I was surprised that I made it through work without Kristine so I continued doing so and haven’t had any since day 2. I did carry it with me all last week just in case but did ok without it. There were days I was very weak but still made it through work ok. I stopped drinking coffee a few weeks before jumping and hav by had it since caffeine can make withdrawals worse for me. I have been drinking Mountain Dew the last couple days in the morning to get a little caffeine but any more than that and I can’t sleep well. Hope this helps. I will continue posting progress.

Jeff thank you again! Yes this is all so helpful. I’ve never found any other place where people are posting true progress and this helps tremendously. Thankfully I have not had nausea from the Kratom. I am on day 5 of no Suboxone. I stopped cold turkey once I was down to .25 mg and then thought, whoops, maybe I should follow Matt’s tapering schedule and have on/off days. So I went 4 days with nothing and then took another .25 mg Suboxone on the 5th day. Now I’m again on day 5 with nothing and I’m not going to bother taking any Suboxone because I feel pretty good. I actually felt worse on the day I took the Suboxone. I am taking Lyrica 50 mg at night (that’s all I had on hand) and also sometimes I add the red Kratom at night too. I am also using the CBD oil as needed during the day and before bed. I am consistently getting 6-7 hours of sleep! I know the fear of the PAWS is still a reality but I’m trying to stay focused on the good. I do need to order DLPA so that my brain can start to heal. What supplements are you using Jeff? And I wonder how Ale is doing.

I was on about 32 mg of Subutex a day plus…. I was also dabbling with other substances and got up to about 180-220 mg of Morphine a day. I was also abusing adderall. So i was doing pretty bad with my addiction. I was on the subutex for about ten years and everything else for just as much. I got real sick of being sick whenever I did not have any medication. I discovered Kratom and instead of taking all kinds of supplements etc . I found that when I found my Strain that I was having NO withdrawal symptoms when I would take my Kratom . It was a life saver. I do not do any of the drugs I mentioned anymore. Kratom saved my life.

John that’s awesome. Which strain did you use? I’m in Day 6 of Suboxone jump and today and yesterday have been rough. I’m finding that either I need to be using more Kratom per dose (did you build up a little bit of a tolerance?) or maybe I bought some not so good Kratom. I’m curious which one helped you the most? And how long did you stay on it? Boy I can sure relate to your statement about being sick and tired of being sick and tired when the meds ran out! Congratulations!

Suboxone jump update: days 7 and 8 were ok but very little energy for sure. I have noticed I seem to do better on work days then weekends. I still have little energy at work but staying moving may help some especially to pass the time. Still dosing one clonidine in the mornings and taking gabapentin at night to take away rls so I can sleep. Also taking valerian root, magnesium glycinate, and added Passion flower to the mix as well as melatonin. Just taking one day at a time and hoping this ends sooner than later so I can taper off gabapentin and get on with my life. Hope everyone here is doing well. Ale how are you doing?

Suboxone jump day/night 5 update: daytime has been much like the last two with maybe a little less energy. Took only a single dose of clonidine late morning and only doses 600mg total gabapentin before bed. I did take some herbs and vitamins to help sleep, melatonin, valerian root, skull cap, and magnesium glycinate. Slept well but only for 5 1/2 hours and woke up at 4:30 am (which is two hours earlier than usual for me) and couldn’t go back asleep. Besides not having much energy I was yawning like crazy all morning before dosing the clonidine then that subsided. Another thing I have noticed is my mind is super weak. My memory and cognitive function seems lacking right now. I am not entirely sure if this is withdrawal slim since I have had allergy issues for the last 3 weeks as well. Either way day 5 wasn’t to bad and once again didn’t dose any kratom at all. I’ll continue posting my progress.

Jeff doesn’t Matt have something he recommends to help bring back your energy? I see you mention that frequently and that is a problem for most of us. I believe he wrote an article on what helps restore energy. Just thought I would mention that and if anyone has found anything in particular to help with energy, please post it here. 😊

You are correct Amy, Matt has an article on getting your energy back. Thanks for the reminder. I remember reading it a while back and need to reread it for sure. Hope you are still doing well.

Although I certainly don’t have the energy I had while taking suboxone (fully expected btw) I find that I have much more at work than at home (most days so far). My theory is that my mind/body has been conditioned over the years to work hard while there and this plays a role. Not that I don’t work hard on things at home but I can generally choose when I do some things at home but at work I have always tried to work hard no matter how I feel based on need.

Anyway, I am glad to be through day 12 now and do have more energy now than the first few days for sure. Still have a ways to go (PAWS) but am optimistic and excited about the future. I still have those doubts at times where my mind starts thinking in a negative way trying to rationalize going back to suboxone or opiates in general but I WILL stay strong and not give in. This is something we all have to overcome. There will always be a “reason” to start using again but we must remind ourselves there are far more reasons to NEVER go back to that again. If lack of energy is one of the things I need to go through for a while, that is a small price to pay for opiate freedom. Take care. 🙂

Jeff you are so right! The lack of energy is such a small price to pay in the end. For me what keeps me from taking any Suboxone is that I just don’t want to start over again!!! I can’t imagine turning back now. I’m so thankful for this website and for Matt and his research and for everyone commenting. Jeff what do you know about PAWS? This is my first time to ever go through this and I have never heard of PAWS until now. Have you experienced it before that you’re anticipating them again? The only time I ever went through withdrawals was when I ran out of pain medication and I’m sure that is nothing compared to PAWS.

Amy, regarding you question on PAWS it isn’t like withdrawal as in flu like symptoms it’s more like a depression that can last for quite a while. It can be overcome quicker with a healthier diet and exercise and getting plenty of protein in your diet as well. Basically giving your brain the fuel it needs to heal itself as fast as possible. I have experienced PAWS about 6 years ago when I came off methadone and stayed off everything for a two year period. The only reason I got back on Sunday no one for the last 4 years is because after a root canal I got a perc script I should have never filled. Taking that for a week sent me down hill seeking again after a lot of work to get clean. My goal going forward is to try to never take opioids again short of loosing a limb or worse. I must learn from my past mistakes in order to get better and for me this seems like the best option. Taking tooth pain for a few days is less suffering than 4 years on suboxone or methadone or any opioid. Don’t get me wrong, I am very greatful for suboxone being available and methadone as well. They have both helped me get through touch times and keep me from getting thing off the street. I am not blaming suboxone for my feeling stuck on it for such a long time, I blame only myself. Sorry I got off track, PAWS can last longer with suboxone than other short acting opioids but I havent experienced this personally from suboxone, only methadone. My original plan was to take kratom for a couple months to get through suboxone PAWS then taper off kratom ando ly go through a shorter period of PAWS. Since it seems to going well without kratom I will continue without it and see how it goes. Partially because it made me nauseous as well. I really regret buying 4 pounds of kratom before I made the jump but oh well. Live and learn I guess. Hope you are still doing well. Day 13 went great at work. I do have much more energy now than in the beginning. Not quite back to normal but truthfully I have felt real normal for 4 years so who can say. Sorry for all the typos in some of these posts, typing on my phone doesn’t always do the best. Take care and stay strong.

Jeff, no worries on the typos because I was able to figure it out lol. I want to tell you this. I know you’re doig well without the Kratom which is awesome but Matt mentioned that if Kratom makes you nauseous or doesnt work, you probably have a bad batch. I bought mine from a health food store and it is great. Well I was trying to save money and bought the next batch at the smoke and Brew place I mentioned. Well it’s like a placebo. Doesn’t do anything for me. So not all Kratom is created equally. Or did you order from the website that Matt recommends? I hope not! Anyhow if you ever need meds for pain in the future, I would try Kratom again. Which strain did you buy? I know you don’t need it now but I am trying to help you find a solution for the future because we just never know what we might face in life as far as injuries and needing pain meds again. By the way I was also on methadone for migraines (smh) for about 2 years and the. Switched to Suboxone and I’ve been on this stuff way too long. 10 years! But this Day 8 of nothing for me and I am shocked how much easier this is. Aren’t you shocked? Because man, I can remember running out of methadone early because I was taking too much and those withdrawals were horrendous. I made the mistake of telling a girl in the doctors office that I would rather die than go through those withdrawals. Well, that landed me in the hospital with a 5150. 😂 I look back and laugh now but gosh it’s awful how people don’t understand what we go through. You are blessed to have a wife who stands by you and I have a great husband now who supports me as well. I know for me, not having to do this in secret is a big deal. Ok now look who is going on and on. Hahaha. Sorry about that! Anyhow I appreciate the explanation of PAWS. I was expecting more of this flu stuff. Do you wake up with sore muscles? That’s the one thing that’s hard for me. I wake up feeling like be been beat up. And the lyrica makes me dizzy the next morning. I may need to try the combination of things that you bought from Walmart. That’s why I couldn’t take the Clonidine either. It’s so frustrating when the treatments for this make me so groggy. I’m glad you’re doing so well. Don’t ever give up! If you ever feel like starting Suboxone again, maybe you should message someone on here so we can encourage you. For me, I dont want to waste any more money on stupid mo they appointments and Suboxone. I don’t want to be chained to those appointments. I hate how it interrupted my life with my family. Anyhow have a great day Jeff and thanks again for all of the helpful info!

Update for day and night 4. Made it through the day fairly easy with just some skin crawls which I have a theory is rls throughout my entire body. I took only one dose of clonidine (0.1 mg) in the morning and nothing else until evening time when I started taking gabapentin (300 mg every hour starting two hours before bedtime totaling 900mg) to help with rls and melatonin for sleep at bedtime. No kratom taken for the second day in a row. Slept most of the night ok but did wake up an hour early or so. Can’t put all of this on withdrawals however as I do have young kids that end up in the bed sometimes which makes it harder to sleep. Either way day 4 and night 4 were not bad for me. I have noticed I have much less energy than usual but this was fully expected since I’ve been down this road before. The timing at work is perfect for me since I am training new hires the next couple weeks which makes it much easier with less energy and less noticeable to others that I am moving slower. I still have a long ahead hope all goes well today. I also hope the rest of you are doing ok as well.

Hang in there Ale. This is the tough part but you are right at the end of the acute phase. Thank you for posting your progress my friend. I have just 4 days before I make the jump so I’m right behind you. Hope you are doing better today. Keep it up.

Hi jeff, thank you so much! Day 13. It’s a little past 4am here and I’ve been up since 2:30am. I went to bed at 9pm. I’ve cut my gaba to 1 x a day. I halve it and take half when I get up (before midday some time), and take the other half about 7-8pm.

Day 11 was a hard day. It came up really unexpectedly and really lingered.

I’ve been doing a bit of reading and I think I’ve actually got my headaches due to detox. I get chronic migraines regardless, but these headaches are a daily thing. hopefully you don’t experience them. I take Sandoz Sumatripan tablets. Non-narcotic and work pretty great. Might be worth looking into incase you get these numbing headaches.

Thanks heaps for replying Jeff. I tend to forget that anyone really reads this..and at the moment I guess I really look for that ‘hey..it’ll be ok’ from places I usually wouldn’t.

You’ll be glad to hear that day 12 was actually prettt good. I went for a (quick) walk (only 15 minutes or so) , and I got home and had more energy.

Regarding the gabapentin, I felt extremely cold at random times. I then read somewhere this is a side effect. It got better throughout the day, but just felt odd.

Ale, glad to hear you are doing well. Thank you for sharing your experience with everything. I’m sure that will help many including myself. Tomorrow will be my last dose of suboxone so a long road ahead but I need to push through. I hope you continue to improve each day. Take care.

Ale and Jeff have you tried using the Kratom? I’m on day 4 from a jump off of Suboxone and it helps tremendously. It doesn’t last as long as I would like but it’s the only thing I’m using for WD right now. I am overwhelmed by all of the supplements to buy so I really didn’t know where to start with those. The Kratom helps me get through the day with 5 kids though! Not sure if anyone has tried CBD oil but my doctor suggested it.

Hi Ale, As you said your husband was an IV user and he got off by using Gaba. Please can you tell me how much he took day 1- to day 3. Was there any other medication he took along with that and also what did he take to sleep. Didnt he have any temptations? Like on day 2 and 3, did he feel at any point he wanted to give up? Please let me know, if IV H users can give it up then surely someone who smokes it should be able to. Problem is , this is the first time a medication has worked so well, however the moment i am awake my mind takes over and i runout to get some. Thank you so much for replying to my post and the advise you gave me, i really appreciate it and i also get excited when i see an e mail notification.

Dear Matt, i have been a Heroin user from the age of 15, im now 34, but i stopped for a period of 7-8 years and started again 3 years ago. Unfortunatly i live in a country where we dont have rehabs, nor do we have methadone or suboxone or basically and medicine to help addicts. and our country is full of H addicts which is so sad to know that there is no help for us. i have tried almost every weekend (as i go to work) to stop but as sooon as the withdrawals start i go back to it. i have done almost everything, i got some suboxone strips from a friend in australia but that didnt help as all i had was 6 2mg strips. i have left the coountry and isolated myself but i still managed to find the H as my wd’s were so bad. I smoke H and have enever iv’d it. i have so much anxiety and finding Jesus Christ and submitting myself to him is the only peace and hope i have gotten. i have read your site inside out and tried several methods, but i havent tried the gabapentin which i really want to give it a go from tomorrow. i am suffering from this evil demon and im dyng to feel normal again. as i wake up i have to have this , then in the afternoon, then again at night, i cant, im sick of this, i dont even feel anything anymore and i would do almost anything to wake up and feel at least a bit better. smoke about half -1 gram a day and i am a 34 yr old female. i can get meds like clonidine,gaba,lyrica etc Kratom will not be allowed into this country and we dont have things like tagamat and vitamins etc.

Please help me, what do you think would be best, my withdrawals are heavy sweating but shivering at the same time, tears streaming down my eyes, restlessness , so lifeless i cannot get out of bed, i throw up contsantly and im so lifeless i throw up on the side of my bed.

Please help, i can get loperamide and gaba, so i am going to try this route, please reply me and pray for me.

Hey sayarah. I see it’s over a week since your post and I’m wondering if you have tried gabapentin and if so how is this working for you? I understand what you are going through all to well and I hope you get trough this. You may do better taking a few days off work or maybe using a holiday to give you more time to get through the acute phase before returning to work. I hope this helps you. Please reply back with your progress.

Thank you for replying. sadly this is what happened, so i got the Gabapentin and had my last dose of H, late friday night. before i felt any withdrawals i took 2 300mg gaba pills and i felt no withdrawals all day except for yawning. My gosh usually around this time i am vomittiing and sweating buckets. so during the day every time i felt a littlle sweaty or cold i quickly took a dose. UNFORTUNATLY i woke up at 03;45 am , i was feeling so restless, i got up to get out of the house then i said no and sat down but as i lay there i was feeliing more restless so i got up and went and relapsed. Believe me when i say i have tried all methods and this was by far the best to reduce upto 80-90% of the H withdrawals. my issue is i should have kept my mind busy and i should have taken something heavy to fall asleep. What would be your advice to me Jeff because im at the brink of losing it all.

Sayarah, how are u? You’ve taken a huge leap and that’s awesome! Setbacks can be expected sometimes but keep your eye on the prize. Take gaba 3 x a day.. religiously.

Even if u think ‘hey I don’t feel too bad’…take it.

Increase your dose too. I started with 900mg 3 x a day.

At times I took upto 1200 mg a day.

Get yourself something to help you sleep.

Think about this logically. You jump on meds then wean yourself off then. None of the stuff you’ll take is long term.

It could be possible you didn’t take enough gaba.

I’ve just detoxed off suboxone, but have also been on methadone and heroine. Your detox will be much shorter than mine due to H half life.

I’m on day 14 and had to take 100mg gaba. Just wasn’t feeling all that comfortable. A tad irate.

My sleep is broken. All part of the process. I was up at 3:30am this morning and somehow fell back asleep at 6am…only to wake up again at 8:30am. I wake up incredibly alert. Alertness doesn’t equal energy however.

Hey Sayarah, don’t get to down on yourself we all relapse at times unfortunately. Ale gave good advise on taking gabapentin religiously for first few days of H withdrawal. Once you get through day 3 start tapering off gabapentin for a few days until you are off of it. This would be my plan of attacking but we are all different. You can actually take this experience and use this to you advantage in that now you know what to expect and can mentally prepare yourself going in. I hope this helps. I truly hope you get through this. Tomorrow is my last day to dose suboxone so I have a 12 day acute phase ahead of me as well. It isn’t as severe as H withdrawal can be but is very drawn out and difficult in its own right after long term use. We can do this!!

Hi Matt. I’ve read your article often throughout my detox/tappering journey. I’m ready to take the final jump and was wanting some advice from you if that’s OK? 🙂 I’m currently on .50 mg suboxone per day (.25mg in the AM, .25mg in the PM).

I know you haven’t responded but just thought I’d post a quick update. I’m 8 days off the suboxone now. I sort of played it by ear to be honest but your posts kept me on track. My final sub dose was Friday AM 25mg. I took gaba in the evening. 300mg.

I started taking it 3 times a day. Amounts varied.

I’ve felt no actual withdrawal pains. No sweating. No actual physical discomfort. I did, however, in the first 4-5 days have absolutely ZERO energy.

Even if my gaba dose was 300mg @ 3 times a day, I made sure it was taken religiously 3 Times a day.

Ale, thanks for posting your progress. You mentioned the first 5 days you had no energy but no withdrawals basically as well. How is it now after 8 days? Are you getting any energy back yet? I am making the jump in 6 days so just curious what to expect. Hope you continue doing well and get through this with relative ease. Please continue to post your progress if you can. Thanks.

Hey Jeff! It’s getting better. The best way I can describe it is basically feeling like I run out of breath if I walk too much. I felt lethargic and foggy-from the Gabba. If you work, I’d probably take a week and a half off and then return. I have 3 kids and I literally could not do anything. Lucky for me my husbands been doing literally everything. I started cleaning yesterday though (day 9). I’d pick up clothes then sit for 10 minutes. Vacuume then sit for another 10 minutes. I’ve started walking and this helps too. Vision is sensitive to outside light. Coming of opiates I guess everything becomes brighter and shinier ha! Get sleeping tablets. Nights are odd. I’m well with the GABA but struggles at night. I usually up the dose at night because I get restless. But the low dose does wonders during the day. I’ll keep updating. Let me know if u have any questions. You’ll be ok when your turn comes. Just prep with vitamins, gaba, something to help sleep.

Day 11. I have no physically painful symptoms. Nights are a tad unco. I’m down to 2 x gabapentin a day. Midday/11pm And 1 x sleeping tablet a night. I live in a double storey and hate hate HATE how I feel going up and down. I get short of breath and just becomes uncomfortable. My migraines have also returned and hit full-force. This is a huge trigger for me but I’m on preventative medication for that. It’s working so far I guess. I get moments of pure dullness. Like the colours in my world has dissapeared. I know it’s part of the process, but they’re hard days none the less. I feel like I’m learning to develop muscle strength all over again but somehow being unfit still seems a higher point to be at. Just a rough day all round. I’ll post soon 🙂 Ale

Hey Ale. How is it going for you now? I’m at the end of day 3 now and surprisingly had a decent day. Not feeling great but not to bad certainly not as bad as yesterday. I didn’t dose any kratom today and didn’t have any nausea. I don’t expect everyday to be as easy as today but glad I had an easy day. The only thing I have had today is gabapentin and clonidine. The end of the day is worse than the mornings so far but last night I felt like I had a fever and went to sleep bundled up under the covers. Tonight has a light hint of that feeling but not near as severe so thankfully for that. I can’t believe how nice it is to have the gabapentin to help out especially at night. I know I would be getting no sleep without it for sure. Anyway hope you are still doing well.

Hey Matt. I was hit by a truck 5 years ago and was put on a boat load of pain medication. I became addicted very quickly. Three years ago, pills were not able to control my pain. (There are legitimate reasons why I will deal with pain for the rest of my life.) I was put on Fentanyl 25mcg and ended up on 200mcg after my last surgery. I tapered back down to 25mcg just 2 months ago and each time I lowered the dose I suffered tremendously. Sadly, even though I said I’d never resort to heroin, I did a month ago and am not in the financial position to do it every day. I got so tired of laying on my bed crying because of the pain. Heroin took that away. Today, I picked up a prescription for neurontin and took a mega dose before I started to feel real sick. I am desperately hoping that this will keep me halfway well. What regimen do you suggest for me? I am ready to accept that I will always live in pain but I will not accept being a slave to opiates any longer.

Hi Matt, I been on pain pills for about a year now and is wanting to get off. I have some Gabapentin 100 pill at home.. how much should I take each dose and how much daily? I’ve experienced withdrawals before and felt like I was dying… would this help not make me feel so weak and tired? Especially the sweat glands I get at night sleeping along with leg cramps. Will this help?

600-1200 mg of gabapentin 3x a day. Start off with 300 mg and if that’s not enough bump dose up to 600, and use a maximum of 1200 mg 3x a day. You’ll probably need 600-900 mg of gabapentin 3x a day but may need less and could possibly need more.

This is great! I’ve used gababentin for norco, tramadol, oxycodone, suboxone, and heroin. To me, it feels like you’re covering over the WD’s with a drunken type stuper. Don’t get me wrong, I can still ride my bike and do cardio (lifting is always on hold when using gabapentin). I usually start a week before I’m going to stop using opiates cold turkey. I start with 300mg and finish at 1800mg daily, then I stop whatever optiate I’m using and continue with the gabapenten for about 6-7 days. I then reduce my dosage by 300mg each day until I’m off. If I start feeling WD’s, I simply titrate the dose until I feel that stupor feeling again.

I’ve also used gabapenten for precipitated WD’s as well. I simply grab 6-7 gabapenten capsules and get them down.

In addition, I try to us Zofran (for nausea) in addition to the gabapenten. If I have have the runs, I use immodium as needed. I’ve used Imodium in high doses (without gaba) and it never helped me.

Long story short, thanks for the write up. I tried showing my suboxone doctor the Iranian crack study but she wanted nothing of it and just said subs are superior. I mean, sure they were great for pills, but not for heroin. At least for me.

Gabapenten (1600mg), along with zofran (4mg), and Imodium (2mg), and sometimes clonidine (.03mg) works for me.

Great info, Chris! Thanks for sharing your insight and wisdom here. It’s kindly appreciated! I’m going to provide links to the articles I wrote on a few of those medicines you mentioned in case any readers want to learn more.

Can i ask why you still do cardio but lifting is in hold? lifting is my life outside of getting off my face and i have a load of Gabapentin. its still fine to lift surely? i mean god ive been lifting on oxys haha – these seem to really help the wd

I am extremely grateful for this information. Have struggled on and off for several years, and only continued to use to avoid withdrawal. I followed the advice here, but have divided the dose into 4 hour intervals. I have been able to work, and go about life with only a mild groggy feeling. I am at day 4 and will taper down. An added benefit of gabapentin seems to be a reduced sense of compulsion to use opiates. I wonder if a small ongoing maintenance dose would help with this?

My son started suboxane an may have taken it too soon. He waited 72 hours after his last methadone but he is suffering the worst withdrawal he says he has ever experienced. I have gabapantin should he start taking that now or is it too late to help him, I hate to see him suffer. Also, how long will he need the gabapantin? Will the suboxane eventually kick in in a few days or what can he expect? I just want to see him well. Any advice would be appreciated

Sorry to hear this about your son. He went into buprenorphine-precipitated withdrawal and now gabapentin can help, but unfortunately it won’t help as much because precipitated withdrawal is even worse than acute withdrawal. The pain will go away eventually, but for some it takes at least a few days if not longer. I’ve heard from lots of people that have checked themselves into the ER due to precipitated withdrawal. Gabapentin may be able to take the edge off, or it could even help more. People are different and you never know how a person will respond to a treatment.

Stacy, I too have taken suboxone to early after being on methadone maintenance and it is a horrible experience I wouldn’t wish on my enemy. For me it lasted 6 hours the started fading away and I took suboxone the next morning and it kicked in as usual. Once this message reaches you he should be over the worst part for sure so he will certainly be fine and can begin suboxone this morning imo. I would start with a low dose of suboxone just to be sure and move up from there. Also you should know that doctors over prescribe suboxone and have no idea they do it since they have never taken it. I was on 90 mg per day methadone and prescribed 24 mg per day suboxone and found that 1mg per day suboxone worked well for me and even 8 mg gave me heAdaches and other side affects. We are all different and this is just my experience. I like the film strips of suboxone since they are easy to cut up and dose with also they have a high affinity so it takes less to work with the film. Hope this info helps. Please ask if you have any other questions.

To be honest the first time I tried to switch from methadone to suboxone I was very disappointed and ended up going back to methadone after a few weeks. This was many years ago and now after understanding the differences in the two I think I understand why I was disappointed. Sivan who is only a partial agonist so it has very different effects but it will take away all withdrawal symptoms. It also takes a few days to build up in your system to get the full effects of it (you can take a larger dose on day one to counter this). I would describe the difference to the user between methadone and suboxone (buprenorphine) that methadone very much gives you that opiate feel while suboxone makes you feel basically sober with a caffeine like buzz that lasts most of the day (not exactly but similar) If you understand going in that suboxone won’t have a full agonist feel it is easier to get used to since you are expecting less. I don’t really know if I am explaining it clearly but this is my take on it. Maybe something in there will help your son. Please feel free to ask any more questions or have him ask if you would like. Have a great day.

Matt, I been trying to get off of Kratom for awhile now. But my problem is I have a addictive personality and makes it so hard. I want to be off of kratom. Don’t get me wrong it has helped me so much to finally get off of opiates. Do you have any advice for me. I cry every day wanting to just not have to depend on anything anymore. I want to wake up in the morning and not run to my kratom first thing. Please Help me

Gabapentin. I just used it for this and am on day 9 symptom free. I don’t recommend phenibut, regardless of its similar structure, it has a completely different mechanism of action. Phenibut is also extremely addictive and you don’t want to switch one addiction for another. That is also a problem with gabapentin, it can be addictive but takes much more time, phenibut takes like a week to get addicted to. I have been fine going 10 days before and jumping off, I just had mild opioid withdrawal lingering but nothing as bad as the acute stage. The reason I came here was because I was looking for a timeframe that I need to quit since I was able to take less gabapentin this time and have loads of it left but don’t want to become addicted.

I’ve heard of people having mild gabapentin withdrawal symptoms after using it as short as 3 weeks. But everyone is different. 7-10 or maybe 14 days seems pretty safe. Obviously the shorter you use it the better.

Hi, I was wondering the safest, best website for Kratom. I want to try it in a small dose to see if it helps with getting if Percocet. I saw it online but don’t want to buy something that isn’t safe. Thanks!

Matt, I have tried kratom before (and will use it again out of desperation, in spite of what I am just about to say). I haven’t read in any of your posts about the EXTREME and LONG-LASTING constipation that occurs with kratom. Whenever I take it I have to stop eating for the duration of the time I am taking it, sometimes up to two weeks.

And, yes, I have tried all the usual remedies for constipation and nothing seems to work for the constipation brought on by kratom use. It is a very severe problem that accompanies usage of kratom

Sorry it makes you constipated. That would be no fun. I haven’t heard of anyone ever having an issue with this, and it certainly never did this to me either. It’s a good thing there are plenty of other remedies you can use to get off opiates besides kratom.

P.S. – Please don’t go two weeks without eating. That is not healthy for you.

Hello Matt I been on subutex for 3days then went to suboxone for 5 days I started with 8mg then went to 4mg then went to 2mg. I want to come off of it. All this within a weeks time. How should I go about this. TIA

There are literally more than dozens of different remedies you can take to help you feel better. I would study my website and see all the things that work and use them to reduce your withdrawal symptoms from coming off opioid drugs.

Matt i so appreciate all this information! You really have helped me sort through different ways to help me get off opiates for good finally I pray! I was wondering your advice on quitting suboxone ct at 1mg a day. If it were you, would you take gabapentin or clonidine to help get through the withdrawals? I am lucky to have both and trying to decide which route to go! I also read somewhere that buspar has shown to be effective in a study for opiate withdrawal but never see any successful testimonies anywhere? You have any experience with that? I also have Imodium but probably wouldn’t megadose it, just 20mg a day tops i think and lower from there but may not need it with gabapentin or clonidine… we’ll see! Well i appreciate your opinion if you have time to respond…. much thanks and have a Great Holidays!

I’m so glad this info has helped you! That’s awesome. 🙂 And if it were me jumping off 1 mg of Suboxone, I would mega-dose gabapentin for 10 days, then divide the dosage in half for 3-4 days, then start using clonidine and loperamide plus plenty of opiate recovery supplements and other natural solutions for a few months to even up to 6 months or longer.

Buprenorphine is very “sticky” and I’m guessing you’ve been Suboxone for at least several months correct? If so, it might take a few weeks before the buprenorphine comes all the way 100% out of your opioid receptors. It has a high binding affinity and so the gabapentin dosing coming off Suboxone should go for longer than with short-acting opiates.

So that’s what I would do. Gabapentin first alone in large dosages, then reduce dosage, then clonidine, loperamide, and lots of great supplements, nutrition, exercise, etc.

600-1200 mg 3x a day, for a maximum of 3600 mg a day, for up to 7 days, and for at least 4 days. You might consider tapering down to a lower dosage before you try to get off. 350 mg is a huge amount. If it were me, I would taper down as much as possible before using medications to get off.

At least get down below 150 mg if you can. That will help your cause out a lot.

Hi Matt, Unfortunately, I do not have the funds to get more oxy. I lost my father and mother both within the past 2 years at the age of 59. (My parents) That’s when I started using pain pills. In the past 6 months I was introduced to snorting them and that’s when things progressively got worse. I was left a substantial sum of money after they died and I’ve spent every last penny feeding this demon. I have prided myself on the fact that I hadn’t turned to heroin yet like a huge amount of people in my area. I am a bit disheartened by your reply because I placed a lot of faith in the hopes that the gabapentin would save me from the worst of the withdrawal symptoms. I am a mother to three children under the age of 12 and I really can’t afford to be sick very long. My husband is on board with this change but unfortunately he is lacking empathy as he doesn’t understand the science and biological factors behind opiate addiction. I have since shared your guide with him in hopes of him educating himself. If I had the funds available to me, I would purchase your coaching program as well. I have every intention of following your guidelines as far as making a complete lifestyle change. Fortunately, I am already a healthy eater and exercise. Is there anything else you can provide me during this detox with gabapentin that would be beneficial? Am I at risk of dying? I’m actually surprised that I hadn’t overdosed yet. I really didn’t know how much I was taking until I did the math recently. The money was more of a curse for me than a blessing. Do you think I need to go somewhere and receive a medical detox? I have great insurance as my husband is in the military so that really wouldn’t be an issue, but getting in at the last minute may be. I’m looking at being completely out of opiates in the next 2 days. Please give me your advice on this and I of course realize that you aren’t a doctor and your advice is strictly based on experience and what you have studied. I respect your opinion though and again I’m now a bit apprehensive about the detox and cold turkey whereas I was totally pumped up and ready to do this and slay this beast. Thank you so much for your response and this amazing thing you are doing. It is truly a godsend when our nation is undergoing an epidemic of addiction. I never imagined I would be in this position. Sincerely, Jackie

I just got an email from someone that said they are currently on day 5 of detox from 450 mg of oxy using gabapentin and a few other meds and they said it’s a walk in the park.

Everyone is different, and there is no way I could ever predict with accuracy 100% of the time what a person’s withdrawal could look like. If you don’t have the option to taper then it’s awesome you have the best med there is.

All I’m saying is that even if the gabapentin helps you have a pretty painless detox, the post-acute lingering symptoms are going to be much worse and longer from a cold-turkey detox after you’ve used that much oxy.

I know you take care of kids and it’s probably going to be difficult to get energy for awhile. The gabapentin should work great for acute withdrawal symptoms, but then you’re looking at, in my opinion, several weeks or even a month or longer of being exhausted and depressed, and the stress from taking care of kids while feeling so “blah” and fatigued will be a huge trigger for you to want to use again.

Just make sure that along with the gabapentin detox, as soon as you can after you stop the gabapentin begin this protocol, which will help you get your energy and happiness back much faster than if you didn’t use the plan:

So, to reiterate, I do believe the gabapentin will be a life-save coming off oxy for the cold-turkey phase, however, since you’re on such a high dose, you’ll need to really supplement your body with nutrients and healthy foods and other methods so you can get over the post-acute withdrawal phase as soon as possible.

Please remain optimistic! But not having any time off while you’re trying to recover from opiate addiction is quite difficult. Taking care of kids takes energy and patience.

Please tell your husband that what you’re going through is very difficult. The lack of energy you’ll experience for at least a couple of weeks if not longer will make it very hard to take care of so many children.

I’m going to post another link to an article on getting your energy back that should help as well.

Matt, Thanks so much for the quick response. I feel much better and hopeful again. So, after I detox with the gabapentin, I plan to buy and use Calm Support for probably 3 months. I have another question though..so I use calm support, dlpa, the tea ( I can’t afford the elixir mix) and what else? At this time can I use the nootropics as well? (With all of the others) I want to make sure that I’m planning everything possible for as fast of recovery as possible. I plan to do all of the other things like diet change,exercise, self help books,etc but I want to make sure on the supplements that I am covered. The program is such a wealth of information it is almost overwhelming! So calm support, dlpa, tea…am I missing something here that can or should be added? Again, thank you for all of your help. I really appreciate it. All of the detox centers in my area are quick to put folks on Suboxone because of our heroin epidemic. I would really rather not go that route…im eager for a life free of drugs and Suboxone is definitely a drug. I have personal experience with it. Thank you again Matt and I hope you are able to reply to this message. Then i will try not to bother you but I will definitely keep you updated. Jackie

Have you try praying every morning. Every night. Reading scriptures. I was a crack addict. I began taking gabapentin as well for the withdrawal. It helped tremendously. Got me through my first two weeks clean. One pill a day. I am not addicted to it. I take a one when I have those cravings. Yes I still have them. I was told to pray. Read. Surrender. So what else did I have to do?? So I did it. And that helped. When the urge comes instead of taking a pill I pray. The urge goes away.

Today is my first day cold turkey from 350 mgs of oxycodone. I took 800 mgs of gabapentin at 7 am and slept like I was in a coma until 2 pm. Then I took another 800 mgs of gabby. I then slept until 5 pm. I’m now up and a bit loopy but feel pretty good. I’m gonna try to eat something and then go for a walk. So so far, so good!

Day 2 no opiates…slept from 1 am until 12 pm. Little dizzy and cold. Headache…but that’s it! Pretty darn good if you ask me. Gabapentin is a miracle!! Thanks Matt! Seriously, your site gave me the courage and optimism to beat this devil. I feel so positive. Thank you for all of the information. I want to get better and share my story and help others too!

Matt, Today is officially 12 hours in past the 72 hour mark without opiates. I haven’t done much but I have forced myself to walk everyday and I’m taking the gabapentin and calm support and other supplements. I’m waiting on the dlpa in the mail. Is this around the time I should start to taper from the gabapentin? Isn’t it supposed to be used for 5 days? So should I start cutting my dosage? I only used 1200 mgs before bed. The rest of the time I’ve been using 800 mgs. Oh and I’ve been drinking protein smoothies and fruit and veggies smoothies. I’ve been able to eat real food every night with a lean protein and I’ve not had any nasuea or vomiting and very little diarreah. Why are more rehab centers not using this amazing medicine gabapentin??

I just answered this question on your other comment and you are quite the student! Even consuming the right foods and not forgetting about the importance of supplements to restore your brain health. I’m super impressed by you! 🙂 Keep it up!

Jackie, I think Matt did answer your first question but there is a several hour delay before a question posts for some reason. Either way, it depends on what opioid you are coming off of. If coming from a short acting opioid I would start tapering gabapentin on day 4 but if coming from a longer acting opioid like suboxone I would start tapering on day 12. Basically as soon as the acute phase is complete I would start tapering immediately from the gabapentin if it were me. Hope this helps.

Sorry to be a pester. I was hoping you can advise me on when I should start tapering off the gabapentin. I’m on day 4..well technically at midnight it’ll be day 4. So far I’ve been using 800 mgs twice a day and 1200 mgs before bed. So far my husband and kids have been very understanding and helpful but im not sure how many more days I should stick to this regimen and when I should start to lower from the gabapentin. If I could afford your coaching I would so I hope you can advise on this. Again, the biggest of thank yous to you Matt. Honestly if all of these detox and rehab centers would follow your protocols for a complete 360 life change maybe the relapse rate would improve drastically. Thank you my angel.

I would divide the gabapentin dosage in half starting day 5 or 6 latest, then take half the dosage for a few more days max. After about 10 or more days, there will be slight withdrawal symptoms coming off those amounts. And thanks! It’s unfortunate detox and rehab centers don’t really know the best ways to help people get off and stay off opioids, but I’m sure some of those facilities have found my website and are incorporating these methods.

Glad your family is understanding, and way to go for kicking some serious butt! You’re on fire!

Hello Matt and Jackie. I have followed your thread here with especially great interest. I am getting prepared purchasing all the supplements and medications I can to tackle this monster. I have read many of Matt’s blogs and he is indeed a bright spot in this dark pit. I plan to also contact Matt and hire him to coach me on a plan best suited to me and my particular opiate issues. I have the weapons to fight this, I just need the best map and plan to use them! I would love to hear more from you Jackie and perhaps even offer assistance as well. If possible, perhaps you can text me? I don’t know if that is allowed Matt? This is your “house” here and I want to respect your rules. I want to follow Jackie’s struggle further and possible have us use one another as a 2 person support group. Money is not as much an issue for me as you say it is for you Jackie. I would like to even perhaps discuss my buying a several session package with Matt as a coach and donating to you a couple of those sessions. I want to see you beat this. Because I know you can and I know by helping others I am helping myself. It’s hard to explain, but Matt beat this and his life seems to be dedicated to helping others. I can’t say I will be the next Matt Finch, but I sure as hell want to make a difference is an many lives as I can once I beat this and even while I am in the thick of the fight. Well, waiting for my Kyani triangle supplements to arrive and my DLPA brand as recommended in Matt’s linked blog in this thread. Have my Gabapentin ready and my 90 day Calm Support order has arrived. I feel like a soldier suiting up for battle. All I need is my commander…or in this case, my coach. Lets connect as well Matt, as I plan to take off 1-2 weeks during the upcoming holidays. I do not have small kids anymore like Jackie, but I am a lawyer and do have work. I can take off for 2 weeks and do some work from home so I will hopefully during that time get through the worst of it. I would leave my e-mail address, but the words above this box say it will not be published, so again, I deffer to you Matt, as this is your domain and I give you both thanks and respect for all you are doing here for people like Jackie and myself.

Glad you’re getting some good tactics for your detox!!! I actually can’t let people leave their email or phone numbers publicly in this comment section, but if Jackie responds to this and wants to be in contact with you, I can help that by providing you both with each other’s emails as I do have both of them from you leaving comments. 🙂

Hi Matt and Jackie: Sorry for the delay in responding. Didn’t get an e-mail notification that either of you responded on this thread. Nevertheless, Matt could you text or e-mail me Jackie’s e-mail address. If you scroll down she did give permission. I am doing great after all of Matt’s coaching and using the regime he created for me. I have not taken an opiate for 14 days at this point and I feel great and my energy level with the help of the supplements Matt suggested is amazingly good. I felt no withdrawal symptoms and my box of anti-diarrhea medication remains unopened! The Gabapentin was among the many parts of the program Matt created for me, the biggest help. I do still take 1 at night because I find as I lay there and try to sleep I get that shake where you feel uncomfortable in your own body. So 1 (800mg) Gabapentin and a 5mg Valium help me sleep. I am concerned Matt that I get this at night and I am worried about and prolonged use of either the Gabapentin or Valium. Any suggestions? I have been off opiates for 14 days as I said, so is this feeling of being uncomfortable in my own body where I can’t lay still or sleep a withdrawal symptom? Any way to deal with it without the Gabapentin or Valium? For those who may ask what I was taking, it was three Percoset (10mg) daily. I also took one 50mg Tramadol which I cut out about 1 month before hiring Matt as a Coach. I didn’t have any problem with cutting the Tramadol because it was a low dose and I was taking the Percoset. My medicine by the way is all prescription and is for back issues. I didn’t like the way opiates made me feel and after 4 years I was ready to end the dependence. Matt’s Coaching was key in getting off opiates and I feel good and clear headed. Those of you who may buy your opiates on the streets, save that money up and hire Matt. If you want off opiates, you can do it and like me never go through any debilitating withdrawals. In fact the supplements Matt has me taking are so good, that I have more energy and feel more clear headed in a way that I actually feel better than when I started opiates 4 years ago! I liked the energy and confidence I got when I took opiates, but when that faded and each day was a struggle and I watched the clock incessantly until it was time to take those pills, I knew I needed help. I searched high and low for someone that could put me on a plan that would make the difference. Each place out there wanted to put you either on year and years of Methadone or Suboxine. I didn’t want to trade one dependence for another. Matt was instrumental in my recovery and without him, I would still be where I was. There is an opiate crisis in America and all they want to do is get rid of the drugs, but I see very little in the way of helping those who are addicted. We need more people like Matt Finch who can guide you through the process and give you a day by day breakdown of what you need to do to start anew. Chasing down drug dealers and closing pill mills to fight the opiate crisis is great, but it is the everyday person like me and I suspect many of you that need the help. I am not looking to get political, but I just want to see others like myself get the help they need and that do not discovery a miracle worker like Matt Finch in their struggle. I am glad I did discover Matt, because he did give me back my life. Thank you Matt, you are, as I told you when we spoke, a “rock star” in the opiate addiction support field. I want to say thank you, but I am not sure those words convey the level of gratitude I feel.

Awesome post Todd!!! You’ve done so amazingly! Keep up the great work, and I will send you Jackie’s email address since she said it was cool. Sincerely…thank you for your awesome comment and success story you wrote here, and the kind and warm feedback regarding my coaching! 🙂

Thank you SO SO much for your comment thread!! I hope I’m writing in the right place haha I’m ending day 6!! I don’t know if I’ll get notifications from this or be able to find this thread again. But I wanted to thank Jackie, Matt and Tod? (I believe was the lawyers name?! Sorry if I’m wrong) but you all have HIGHLY motivated and inspired me to stay strong and get through this. God bless you all!! 😇💓

Hi Matt. What an awesome site this is. Thank you for being here for all of us. I have a question about using Gabapentin for a kratom taper. I currently use 30 mg kratom daily, split into 5 doses of 6 grams each. I would like to drop my kratom consumption by 1/3 – down to 20 g and then taper to zero from there. I am afraid to go CT from 30 grams k per day as I hear the PAWS are awful. Can I use Gabapentin during a kratom taper? Is it safe to use both and how much do you think I should use per dose and how many times daily? As I taper, it takes me a very long time to stabilize – even after a drop of only .5 g. It can take 14 days before I feel stable. This is one of the reasons I want to drop by 1/3 now – I would like to get this taper over with at a reasonable pace without dropping so drastically that the PAWS cause me to relapse. Thanks so much for any help (additional suggestions welcome :).

Awe thanks that so nice of you to say that! So glad you’re gaining value from this website. 🙂 And it’s safe to use gabapentin but you’ll want to start very low and opioids and gabapentin potentiate together and they can be a very strong combo.

If it were me, I would save the gabapentin until the last 1-2 weeks of the kratom taper. Tapering is the way to go to minimize PAWS for sure. oh and I’m going to provide you with a link to the perfect article to read.

It’s on tapering off opioids and the plan can work for kratom very well. I’m also going to send you a video I made on kratom withdrawal methods. I made the video for an emergency when the DEA was planning on banning it over a year ago.

Thank you so much for the info Matt. I am sick to death of being a kratom slave. I know I can’t CT so tapering is definitely the way for me to go. Tapering is hard enough – I can’t even imagine CT. Thank you again. Belle

I just watched your Free Kratom Home Detox Webinar and read your Art of Tapering article. I can’t even tell you how much better I feel about my ability to quit kratom. The webinar really makes me want to try to go CT, it actually sounds doable, but I don’t want to deal with PAWS, so I am going to stick with tapering. Thank you again for all of this wonderful information.

Hi Matt and Todd, I tried to reply the other day..I hadn’t been on here in awhile..Todd, you are amazingly generous..I hope you are doing well. I am hanging in there..still low energy and anxiety.. I would love to help you however I can. I give Matt permission to share my email address with you.

Just curious do you think the reason gabapentin isn’t more regularly used because of possible kickbacks from putting folks on Suboxone and methadone instead? Surely the pharmaceutical companies are starting to lose money now that the opioid epidemic has hit the ceiling. Funny how 7 years ago when I had a minor brain surgery the doctors didn’t once tell me I could get addicted in as little as 2 weeks. No instead they gave them to me for 3 months when I probably only really needed them for a few days!

I think it’s probably just due to ignorance. I doubt most doctors spend their free time learning about what works best for opiate withdrawal symptoms. And with all of those years of medical school, they probably spend a half day learning about addiction. I think that’s what doctors have told me.

I’ve spent the past 6 years studying what helps withdrawal, and the past 3.5 years blogging about these methods and learning more and more. I wish I had all of the doctors and treatment programs on an email list, and that way I would send them an email educating them on the most important things they should know for treating opiate recovery. That would be cool.

I would love to try this method also. I have lots of gabapentin. Just this addictive personality I have seriously does not let me. I am 51 years old and I babysit my grandkids every day. They have no other babysitter but me so I can’t miss a day. I just want to not be dependent on any substance even if it is natural. I got off of opiates one year ago today and took Kratom to help me do that. I have tried so many times to get off of kratom with no success at all. I use about a ounce every three days. I was in counseling a while back for my addictive personality but due to me being on SSD and Medicaid the insurance doesn’t pay for counseling and with a set income I can’t afford a counselor. With this problem I feel it is going to be harder for me to stop kratom. Matt, is there anyway you can help a person with a addictive personality get off of kratom? I asked you this question in another post about a few minutes ago. I know it takes time for a response. Truly hope to hear back from you soon. Also thank you.

Matt, How long and how many mgs per day would you suggest using the gabapentin? I am currently using, actually snorting, a bunch of oxycodone..up to 350 mg a day. I want to wean off but I don’t have enough to do it. I do have a bunch of gabapentin though and access to more. Thank you so very much!

600-1200 mg 3x a day, for a maximum of 3600 mg a day, for up to 7 days, and for at least 4 days. You might consider tapering down to a lower dosage before you try to get off. 350 mg is a huge amount. If it were me, I would taper down as much as possible before using medications to get off.

At least get down below 150 mg if you can. That will help your cause out a lot.

Sorry I’m confused. Do I take calm support, dlpa, the tea, multivitamin and all the other vitamins listed on the other section and the triangle? Or do I need to eliminate some of this if I use the triangle? Thank you!

Yes all of them plus the triangle. It’s a pain taking all those supplements but it helps so much that it overrides the nuisance of purchasing so much stuff then remembering to take it all everyday at the right times with or without food.

Hi! I’m sorry if I’m writing on someone else’s feed I wasn’t sure how to leave a comment so I just jumped in where I can. Currently I’m withdrawing off Tramadol. I read your info and saw gabapentin as a solution to WD. I’ve taken 600mg around 6am fell asleep then around 2pm I took another 300mg bc I started feeling some WD sweating & stomach cramps. I took another 300mg around 4pm and fell asleep. Now I feel super loopy and weird its almost hard to write this. I’ve come down off Tram before in my 7 years of taking this nightmare drug. I recognize some of the symptoms I’m having like hallucinations when I close my eyes.. I also took some vitamins and imodium for the runs. Can you give me any info on how to get through this? This is my 1st day and feeling weird, I think maybe I took too much gaba? Will the gaba wear off soon? Thank you for caring so much about us!😊

It sounds like you’ve taken too much gabapentin. That is one of the common side effects of gabapentin and it tends to go away after you’ve been on it for awhile. If you’re hallucinating when closing eyes that sounds intense and perhaps it would be safer to use less gabapentin. And it wears off after several hours. I see you posted this a few days ago I hope you’re feeling better Danny.

Matt Finch, Thank you so much for responding! Maybe I wasn’t clear the hallucinations (if I can call it that) were from the Tramadol. That’s happened almost every time I tried quitting cold turkey. I’m so happy to say the gabapentin actually worked well for me. I did scale back after the first 24hrs figuring that would have been the most intense WD’s. I appreciate you so much for sharing your findings with us mom’s, dad’s, daughters & sons just trying to see a better day. I’m for certain that without the Gaba, vitamins, and all the articles I read, I would have been in bad shape. It’s been 5 days and I’m feeling pretty good! The loopy feeling wore off pretty fast and I believe in my case the Gaba took at least 75% of the WD’s ..Today I’m feeling hopeful.. Thanks again!

Hi Matt and Mary. I’m in UK and been stuck on codeine taking it every day fo months now. I spoke o doctor and we are doing a tape over five six weeks but I’m finding hard with the restless leg syndrome. I have 100 300mg Gabapentin but don’t know where to start. I was taking 180-240mg codeine two to three times a day. I’m now taking 90 three t8mes a day but at night my legs go funny and I can’t sleeo for more than an hour. I’ve got keratomileusis which works fine but I’m taking about 6grams at a time so think I’m just supplementing one for the other. I’d like to use the Gabapentin for restless legs and stick to my tap r but don’t know how much to take. I know you’re not a doctor but any advice appreciated. Do I start with 300mg and wait for the effects? Or take like 900 and hope for the best?

Just start with 300 mg and see if that’s enough to hold you over. If not, increase to 600. You can use a maximum of 1,200 mg 3x a day. But you always want to start low and see how it works. It’s a strong medicine and you don’t want to take too big of a dose and be prone to an accident as it affects your vision and balance, making them worse. So I would start with 300, and maybe you’ll only need 300 mg 2-3 times a day.

My guess is 600 mg 3x a day would be something that could really help based on the dosage of codeine you’ve been on. But everyone is different so please be safe and start very low.

Hi All Well I just did a week using gabapentin some df 118’s and the odd pregabalin, the gabapentin definately helped I think by using the df 118’s has prolonged the withdrawal as its dyhydrocodine which is an opiate. The thing that messes me up is the not sleeping, I think after the first decent sleep over the first 24 hours it went downhill, I found I had only had about eight hours sleep in five days and that toxic sweat that crawls over your body is a nightmare. I managed to go without any heroin for 6 days which is really a miracle, I even got myself a job loading trucks with packages its only a 3 hour shift each day but its really hard work, none stop lifting packages up to 70 kilos. I thought well i need something to do or i just keep focussing on feeling shit. Each time I finished my shift i was exhausted so would go home and get into bed but would only sleep for an hour and wake up soacking wet with toxic sweat. After six days of hardly any sleep even tho my body is exhausted my mind is wired and will not let me get a decent sleep. However on day six I managed to get about 2 1/2 hours sleep in the day time. I came home from work tonight got in bed so tired but just could not sleep. Anyway I ended up going and buying £20 worth of heroin, I know this was a stupid idea but my body and mind just needs a decent sleep to keep up the good fight, I know I will pay for this stupid move tommorow but no regrets after 6 days of hardly any sleep and still feeling toxic I wanted to feel nice again oh man these withdrawls are a nightmare I think Its my own fault due to using the dyhydrocodine and this is just prolonging the actual withdrawls. But hey ho tommorow is a new day and I will of had a good sleep tonight so hopefully I can do another week detox on smaller amounts of gabapentin and hopefully put this demon opiate addiction to bed. I was looking online for Kratom to help with the withdrawls but its seems really expensive 1 kilo is £150 English pounds. Question how much Kratom will i need and you can buy smaller amounts I think a 25 gram tester is on £10 so how much kratom will I need each day? How long will 25 grams last me and how much should i use each day. Look forward to finding out

Don’t beat yourself up! Please have some self-compassion, because what you’re going through is so difficult, and that long with so little sleep would cause nearly anyone to use again. And I would totally encourage you to just switch to kratom as it’s natural, much less powerful than heroin and safer, and cheaper too.

Here is a link to my article reviewing the best kratom vendor I’ve found online. You only need around 3-8 grams, and at most up to 9-10 grams per dose, and the half-life is much longer than heroin. You can get by on only 2-3 doses a day.

Hi Matt and All Thank you for your response, kind words and link to the Kratom. I get some cash tomorrow so will check it out and see how much to buy. Well after six days of not using heroin then my slip up on the sixth day, I thought the heroin would help me sleep but it did the opposite and had me awake all night, ye I felt better but it did not do what i wanted it to do. When I finally got asleep the next day I had a solid 5 hours, and in the evening a solid 3 and a half hours but woke up in withdrawals socking wet with that toxic sweat that crawls all over your body. I think there is a lesson here, when you are using everyday ye the heroin helps you sleep, but when you use it after a period of abstinence it stimulates you, or maybe it was the type of heroin it was (the light variety) Anyway it was a bad idea. so for anyone going through withdraws who thinks a day on the heroin will help you, it doesent just set you back again. So that slip was on friday night probably stayed in my system for 24 hours, till the saturday night when i woke up in withdrawls. Its now Sunday lunch time. last night I took one gabapentin 300mg as i dont want to get stuck on that either but had a shit night of hardly any sleep, took another 600mg at six am this morning. The Gabapentin reduces the horrible twitches in your body and makes the detox more manageable. It does not stop the withdrawal process totally buy definitely makes it more easy to manage, My experience shows me that i need to use some other supliaments maybe kratom or calm support with the gabapentin. Anyway folks good luck on your journeys and i will keep you informed of progress

Hey quick question.so far tomorrow marks 2 weeks without the oxy and I used the Gabby’s for detox with little issues. I have all of the vitamin supplements including calm support. Unfortunately, I cannot afford the triangle and the nootropic adifinil that you suggested. Right now I am beating myself up for reading all this negative stuff on paws and I have zilch energy. I am trying to be patient but I have 3 kids and Xmas is around the corner. My mood is over all good, no cravings, but im a perfectionist..I have very low appetite so im really trying to kick back the protein and fruit and kale smoothies. When should I push myself to exercise? Oh and my sleep cycle is whacked out now..waking every 3 hours. So sorry sidetracked..which do you think is better for me for energy in my situation the nootropic adifinil or the triangle? And if I do all this can I really have paws for like 2 years or forever? Oh I want healthy again so bad but have to remember patience..the hardest virtue for me. And do I just need to rest more before I start production pushing the exercise? Both legs feel like they weigh a ton. Reminder I CT from 350 mg oxy snorting habit and am 41 who was healthy prior to this disease. Oh im also recently read how all of the brains extra opioid receptors never go away. I KNOW I was never told that after brain surgery. When im better I want to help in anyway I can. Thanks again angel Matt.

Gosh, this was my concern before when you said you could not taper. I knew the gabapentin would help with the acute detox but it was the PAWS that I thought you’d have a hard time with coming off that dosage.

Think of this process like running a marathon, and not a sprint. Like you said, just be patient. After 17 years of drug abuse, I quit opiates which were my last drug I became addicted to for a few years, and within 6 weeks I felt great, 2 months super duper awesome, and within 6 months of not taking opiates or other drugs, I felt better than I ever did even before using drugs.

Your brain can generate new brain cells. It’s called neurogenesis. Certain supplements (such as lithium orotate) and foods help with this, and exercise does as well. If you haven’t read my friend Chris Scott’s article on exercise for opiate recovery, make sure you read it. It shows how exercise increases BDNF and thus the process of neurogenesis and brain health restoration FAST.

In the meantime, the triangle is one of the best things you can use to help you get back that natural energy, and Adrafinil is only good a couple days a week and not a long-term aid for energy.

Go on Amazon or to Whole foods or another health food store and purchase some Green Tea Energy by Yogi Tea or another brand, which has green tea and ginseng in it. Make strong iced tea using this and drink it pretty much all day (Maybe around 6-8 teabags a day total)

It should seriously help! Ice-cold showers in the morning and evening can help with energy too! Also, doing a daily qigong routine can help with getting your energy back on track.

Here are my favorite DVD’s although there are also free qigong routine videos on YouTube:

Lee Holden has great DVD’s and I’ve done his online course which is great too. There are many other great qigong DVD’s but out of the 10 I’ve done, these are some of my favorites.

So qigong is free to do on YouTube and only around $15 to buy a DVD, the Green Tea Energy is very affordable, and the cold showers are free so those are some awesome things you can afford and get massive benefits from. And the triangle is very important because the noni-product increases your body’s ability to produce nitric oxide (NO) naturally. “NO” is a master neurotransmitter, so increases it leads to an increase of ALL your other neurotransmitters that are important for mental health.

OMG. Also, get some raw organic maca root powder ASAP and start taking 1 tablespoon every morning first thing upon waking with water or juice on an empty stomach. I talk about maca in several other articles. It will totally help and it’s very inexpensive and lasts so long. Around $15 for enough to last 6 months or so. Or somewhere around those ranges.

Jackie, if you do all of these things, you’re well on your way to feeling better very fast. Please don’t worry. I’m here to tell you that your brain will heal and not only that, but it will be better fast. Nutrient therapy works wonders. You’re going to feel awesome. Just be patient.

Im so sorry Matt. I wasn’t sure that went so I just posted a few more questions somewhere else. Please forgive me! My husband is army and tells me to dig deep. Is it too early to start pushing exercise? I won’t ask anything else here. Just wait for your other reply. Thank you again. You are a godsend! Blessings.

NO apologies necessary LOL! It’s all good!And that is hilarious about “digging deep!” No, it’s not too early to exercise at all. You can and should exercise starting from Day 1 coming off opiates if you can, even if it’s just a long night-walk (I do these all the time BTW). Exercise-it-up girl!! Dig Deep!! 🙂

Hey just wanted to check in. I ended up freaking out with anxiety and checked into a local rehab hospital for 3 days. Im a little pissed because the Drs. Put me on buspar and it interacts with dlpa and some of my supplements. Im eating better now though and just taking it day by day. It’ll be 3 weeks Tomorrow with no opiate use and im still lacking energy but I do realize ive been replying on artificial energy. I just wanted to get healthy.

Well congrats for still being opiate-free!!! Getting off opiates can be quite a challenge and things like these happen. The way I avoided the bad anxiety was by taking Valium for the first 4 weeks after getting off opiates. I used around 40 mg a day for the first week, then 20 mg a day week 2, then 10 mg, and on my last week I took 2.5 mg in the morning, and 2.5 mg in the evening, then I jumped off and only used supplements and exercise and I had no withdrawal from tapering off the Valium. Valium and cigarettes saved me during that first month. I quit smoking a few days after getting off Valium but the nicotine/Valium combo was absolutely amazing for anxiety and mood-stabilization.

Hang in there Jackie. There is no rush. You have the rest of your life ahead of, so in the grand scheme of things, what is a few weeks of not feeling great? It’s just a right of passage you have to go through and then you’ll have a badge of honor for accomplishing this goal.

My spouse and I are both starting voluntary WD/detox with today being our last dose of opiates this morning. We are both terrified for the week ahead but excited for the rest of our lives! Like many of you all, I’ve become gloomy and hopeless. It’s reassuring to read these post of hope and success! Back to business, we are tackling this with gabapentin only (although I have access to benzos, or anything else under the SUN, if absolutely necessary. I really have no desire to use anything other than the gabapentin and CBD oil.) My question for the gabapentin is, ” Is it contraindicated with CBD oil?” I’ve purchased CBD oil to help through this process with my migraines but I want to be safe. Also, how long do opiates take to get completely out of your system/pass a urine drug screen with chronic/ long term use?

Thank you for this website. It is so informative and correct, to the point, non-judgemental, and not pushy into random “cure all ” products . Again, thank you so much and I look forward to having my questions answered!!! Love, light, and success to all!

I’m so proud of you and your spouse! And I’m very happy to learn that you have gabapentin, benzos, CBD oil, and more powerful opiate withdrawal remedies. Those will help so much. And CBD oil is not contraindicated with gabapentin. Short-acting opiates take around 4-12 days to get out of your system depending on many factors. Long-acting opioids take somewhere in the neighborhood of 4-7 days or even up to 2-3 weeks or more in severe cases.

These numbers are not guaranteed and there are really a lot of factors that determine this number such as dosage of opioids, time using them, metabolism, genetics, how active a person is or isn’t, and much more.

I really appreciate your positive feedback of this website. Thanks for taking the time and energy to share this with me. It really makes me happy knowing that you’ve gained helpful information that you can now use to end your opioid dependence for good, in the most painless way possible.

If you have any other questions I’m happy to assist, and I’m wishing you and your spouse the best of luck on your detox!

Hi Matt well last night was bad no sleep due to twitches and restless leg syndrome, I just couldent handle it and ended up taking 3 x 30 df 118’s this calmed me down a bit but still couldent get any sleep, then a few hours later took 6 x 30 df118’s feel a bit down taking the df’s as was doing so well, now i have got up it dont feel so bad think its mainly a night time thing but was still twitching even when i was up, not as bad as a straight opiate withdrawal but still quite unpleasant well have got up and took 900mg of gabapentin and will see how i go, what do you recomend for the restless leg syndrome ?

I actually just responded to another person that had this exact same question. I wrote an article which shows you a step-by-step plan to get rid of RLS. Here is the link to check it out, and please let me know if you have any questions after checking it out.

Well here I am 27 hours in with no heroin. I took 900mg of gabapentin last night. and work up after about 5/6 hours and took another 900mg of gabapentin and went back to bit of restless sleep, just a bit of tossing and turning, but its now 3pm in the afternoon and I feel ok, Just a bit fuzzy but nothing like a withdrawal from heroin. My stomach felt a bit messed up so I took 1 10mg of buscopan and this sorted it out. Oh ye I took another 900 mg of gabapentin around 3pm cause i heard it only has a short life in the body and did not want to go into withdrawals. I carnt believe they are treating people with opiate addiction with more opiates how is that going to help. I found myself on methadone for over 5 year and what a horrible time that was to get off. I am finding the gabapentin stops that urgency in you mind and body that tells you you need to scrore. It quietens the mind and body down. Great stuff anyway will keep you posted on progress and tell everyone I know who is still using about Gabapentin, spread the word people. Peace Love Light and Laughter.

Hi Matt and All Well I was on methadone and reduced myself from around 50mls to 12mls. I then went into a rehab for two weeks to get off the methadone. They reduced me to 10mls first day then took it down 2 half mls each day. Also they split the dose so if i was on 10 mls they gave me 5 mls in the morning and 5 mls at night. this tricks the body and mind and really helps. I had been trying to detox off methadone for over 5 years, I wish someone had told me about splitting the dose. Any way hope that info helps some of you. Splitting the dose really helps. I had a positive mind and outlook and that also helped but day 1 without any methadone boy it hit me, all the usual withdrawal stuff, no sleep, restless legs, no energy ect. Anyway I came out of rehab and had hardly had much sleep over two weeks, so i had some pregabalin in my meds box i took 200mg at night with a 7,5 Zimovane sleeping tablet, sleep solid for 8 hours. The point im trying to make is once you have had a good nights sleep it recharges you to keep up the good fight. Anyway i was in supported living and we had to go to 4 N.A A.A or D.AA meeting a week. I managed to stay clean for over 2 n half years. By going to lots of meetings and doing lots of courses and volunteering. However after 2 and half years i got pissed off thinking this stuff is not leading me anywhere, yes Im not using but feel like life is passing me by while im doing courses volunteering to keep occupied. I got resentful and stopped doing all the meetings, courses and volunteering. So this basically had me putting in no action, isolating in my room, isolation leads to loneliness, loneliness leads to fearful thinking and emotional pain and that needs a solution. Needless to say I relapsed and began using heroin again. What I have realized is that to change we have to do something different, its as simple as that, so my resentful attitude basically undid all the good work I had put in. You know I did not agree with some of the stuff in the 12 step meetings and my mind began creating reasons for me not to attend, when actually it was working, I had a new peer group who were not using, i was beginning to build a life and had been clean for 2 n half years. But my Instant gratitude of wanting it all and wanting it all now undid my good work. And most of the N.A and A.A stuff I agreed with, but like most people who have been on opiates my mind focused on the 2 or 3 bits i did not agree with. So there is a lesson for me and others here, do not focus on the bits you do not agree with, and that is not just about meeting its applicable to anything in life your dealing with, stay focused on positive things. We need a positive outlook if we are to get better. I spoke with a drug worker about the things I did not agree with and she gave me some great advice, she said “Take what you need from it”. Which at that point was a peer group who are not using. I think for many who have been in opiate addiction, we end up isolating to hide our loss on control on drugs and fear of social disapproval. So we become secretive to hide our addiction, I once heard a good quote to do with addiction, it said “We our as sick as we are secretive” I thought it hit the nail right on the head. Because the addiction makes us secretive and isolate. So part of the solution is to become social again. I had been isolating for so long I did not really know how to interact with people and I was full of fear around interacting with people who I did not know. So I began to research things like building rapport, turn taking, interaction and communication models ect. This stuff helped as I was learning and putting it into practice and it helped to dissipate the fear I had. Anyway I have been using heroin for over a year now but have run out of money so detox or crime is my only option I dont want to get involved in crime as it is only a short term solution that will lead to arrest and convictions, prison ect. So I have quite a few gabapentin and pregabalin so will be trying again tommorow to detox, I just did two days detoxing but ended up scoring again today. so will try again tomorrow. Hope some of this info helps others, they say intelligent people can learn from other peoples mistakes, I hope some of you can learn from mine. Peace, Love, Light and Laughter to you all and good luck, ps. what a great forum this is well done matt your work is amazing and so needed, its about time all the detoxing infor was in one place easy to access for all well done, great work

Having used this to Detox off opiates initially and then for several weeks after to mitigate the psychological effects of PAWS as well as lingering physical effects, such as increased susceptibility to pain, night sweats, and diarrhea, I can tell you this medication works WONDERS. There is however one huge drawback, that being, if you use it for more than 3-4 weeks, your body does build a tolerance to it, and you will become physically dependent on this medication, which has its own lovely slew of withdrawal symptoms.

For Detox: I would suggest taking 100-300mg every 2 hours until symptoms are alleviated. Because of its incredibly short half life (how long it stays in the blood stream and ‘works’), its best to dose this medication 3-4x a day rather than take one huge dose at once. It will also make it easier to taper off the medication this way. The maximum prescribed dose for this medication, for neuropathic pain, is 3600mg per day. You will NOT need anything close to that. Having been addicted to opiates, taking up to 7 30mg Oxys a day, I was achieving 4-5 hours of sleep during DETOX on 1200mg of gabapentin per day. After 5 days I cut the dose in half to 600mg per day. I would recommend not extending such a high dose past the 1-week mark as tolerance to this medications builds VERY rapidly, and taking no more than 1800mg per day during the Detox phase. Gabapentin will severely improve all physical symptoms and 90% of psychological symptoms during Detox.

For PAWS: not everyone who goes through opiate withdrawal experiences PAWS… however if you do gabapentin can also be an incredibly useful resource to mitigate the initial lethargy, anxiety, insomnia, etc that accompanies the detox. I would suggest cutting your dose used for Detox in 1/2 for PAWS symptoms, and then divide that dose in 3 to be taken throughou the day, or as needed. With each 5-7 days, slowly cutting down the dose. This way it won’t be a total shock to your system, as gabapentin can have rough withdrawals upon cold turkey quitting.

If you find after 3-4 weeks that you’re having gabapentin withdrawal (very similar to opiate withdrawal though much milder), continue tapering and be strict with it. In between the gabapentin dosing, supplement with 200-600mg of magnesium per day. Gabapentin competes with Mag in the body, causing less of it to be absorbed and used in the body. Low magnesium levels are characterized by insomnia, muscle cramps, fatigue, and anxiety.

Speaking from experience, I ended up using gabapentin for 2 months after Detox, and when I tried to quit experienced terrible anxiety, depression, and insomnia. When I read up on the magnesium I immediately started taking 500mg magnesium citrate in between doses, and then when I finally went off of the gabapentin, and found my withdrawal symptoms 90% gone. It’s crazy that a mere vitamin has that much power.

Matt you do such an amazing job informing And helping people quit opiates. This website truly helped me stand where I am now, 3 months clean, and experiencing little to no PAWS symptoms and feeling truly optimistic for the first time in YEARS. As a healthcare provider and an addict, I figured I would throw my 2 cents in to further help people, as I wish resources like this were available to me years ago when I was first trying to quit. For those of you in earlier phases, I highly suggest reading his other articles, such as how to home Detox successfully, Kratom for withdrawal, and how to overcome PAWS, in addition to this one.

Great advice and feedback on using gabapentin for opiate withdrawal and post-acute symptoms! Gabapentin is still my favorite medicine for detox and yes…magnesium is a wonder “relaxation mineral.” I also love the mineral lithirum orotate for this use. Thanks so much for the wonderful information as well as the precautions for using it too long.

Hi. I have been experiencing withdrawals from opiate use. My dad has a bunch of gabapentin prescribed to him. I want to take one of his but scared to take it because it’s not prescribed to me. Would Do I need to be under a doctors cate under this medication?

I don’t recommend breaking the law, though I admit than when I was addicted to opiates, I frequently used prescription pills that were not prescribed to me. Gabapentin works very well for most people. Be safe.

Gabapentin is a miracle- I’ve been an addict most of my adult life and this time I had gabapentin for neuropathy and it was really smooth considering I went cold turkey. I do have a question tho- I take 600 mg in the evening for my foot pain and have tried the phenibut just out of curiosity but now I’m wondering if that is a problem because I thought I read somewhere that you shouldn’t take then together? Thanks so much for this site- it has changed my life.

I just wanted to let you know that I am an opiate addict and was taking 10 30mg of oxycodone a day so that is 300 a month for almost 10yrs. Then all of a sudden there became a heroin epidemic in my state and so thry started just stopping prescribing them. Doctors were affraid of losing there license! So the doctor cut me down rather quickly and of course then the sickness I didnt want to face. So the heroin was cheaper. So then of course you find other people and its so bad around here people are selling fentenyl as heroin then the newest thing that is around is carfentenil. Which I dont know if many people know is an elephant tranquilizer. So I ended up on that. Ive been on it for months and its the strongest thing out there right now. So long story short ive been on some type of opiates for about 15yrs non stop. I took the gabapentin the night before my first day of no drugs and I had absolutely no withdrawls. Day 2 took them the night before and again no withdrawls. Just took day 3 hope I feel the same. I called for help and they told me to go to the methadone clinic or a suboxone clinic. I had told them I do not want to take any drugs at all. I want to have a drug free life for me and my kids. I would like to thank you for what you do. From reading all of these posts there should be thousands of people like you to do this. Thanks again

Thanks so much for sharing a bit of your story and for your testimonial on the effectiveness of gabapentin. It truly is a lifesaver. Appreciate your kind words and for taking the time to leave a comment. Wishing you the best my friend.

Hi Matt , Iv been reading throu all these posts , am on 200mg of oramoph a day n have been for 5 years , I do have lyrica do they work in the same way as Gabapentin as j know they I. Same family , am trying to get a plan to get off the morphine Thanks

Thank you Matt for this site & everyone else for sharing your experiences & supporting everyone’s epic quests for a better life. I’m so grateful that I came across this Gabapentin article. I have been a daily heroin user for the past four years or so. I knew I had serious problem for some time but nobody else did. Only my dealer and one friend know anything about my struggles. I’ve had the same job for 10 years, have a small business from home, and am very close to completing my Master’s degree…so I’ve also been very busy. I never really used to get pin eyed and noddy. Mostly just to take the edge off. My job ended last week, leaving me with enough cash to get through a few days. I have been quickly tapering my heroin use for the past 4 days. Tomorrow night I will be out of dope and out of resources. There are plenty of nefarious activities I could engage in to get some cash but I refuse to degrade myself any further than I already have. I tried to get into a detox, even though I have serious anxiety about having an addiction included in my medical history. Nothing but waiting lists available right now. My friend gave me a handful of 800mg Gabapentin and suggested that they might help….which brought me here. Tomorrow I will stop all opiates and pray that this works for me. I have not been without opiates for more than 16 hours in several years. I have the same remorse and bone deep sadness that so many have expressed about what has been lost to this addiction…and material “things” are the least of it. I can’t burden my family with this, so the kindness of strangers it is. I will provide updates as to how this approach works for me. May we also see a brighter future!

Hey Josie, thank you for sharing your experience. I hope the gabapentin helps take the edge off of withdrawal to get you through as it has many others. May I suggest picking up melatonin from your local drug store or grocery store (herb/vitamin section) to start taking after stoping gabapentin (or whenever you need it) for sleep. It is a natural substance that our bodies produce that can help with sleep during this time. I look forward to your updates as you push through to gain opiate freedom.

Hi . I have advanced breastcancer in the bones since 2013. As the pain in my back increased my medication went from Tramal tablets to Morfine and from Morfine to Oxycodone HCl tablets. The make the story short I was on 60mg of Oxycodone before my radiation. After radiation in January 2017 my pain was gone and the doctor told me to start tapering off the medication. Last week I was on 2x10mg. This week I am on 2x5mg a day. I have sleeping medication Bromazepan that I use as last resort when I get anxiety an can not sleep. I am currenty working so one day I tried not to take the morning dose(5mg) and I felt my energy level leave me and I had to go home.I am stuck a bit now because I am want to get over it. I use gabapentine 2x100mg when I get skin crawl but it has been hell sometime with the anxiety if I do not use gabapentine. It usually happens at night and I can not sleep right away.

I just wanna share my story with you… The reason I started detoxing from methadone is bc I had a spiritual breakthrough… an enlightenment experience of sorts. I’ve been reading Eckhart Tolle, The Four Agreements & Ram Das’s “Be Here Now” since I was 18. It didnt quite sink in until last August, and my fear of withdrawal dissappeared (along with my fears of anything else…)

I didnt start using drugs willingly till I was 22. At 21… well, I met someone at the gym who was a body builder/personal trainer. At first I wouldn’t give him the time of day except to talk about nutrition. He told me he sold all natural work out enhancers. Brought me a bottle for free one day. They looked innocent enough (I now know it was mixed with raw heroin, which here in Chicago land is actually brownish) I felt great but had to keep going back to him for more bc otherwise I felt like shit. After awhile I couldnt go a day without it. I was dying to know what the ingredients on the bottle did so I googled every single one and found zero results for my symptoms (of course). Then I did more googling. I was livid when I realized… so I went to his house to confront him. He didnt let me leave for 8 months. Locked me in the basement, tortured, raped, etc etc but I was eventually rescued and him to prison. I had the child, my darling first born girl, and placed her for open adoption. I was terrified he would try to come back and get some visitation (his fam had an awesome lawyer). After losing her… I went on a drug rampage, did everything I could get my hands on. I figured why not? I had vowed never to do drugs but by then he had been feeding me heroin for months… all while I was pregnant… it destroyed me. For 3 years I moved to LA then Pheonix in search of the best highs I could find. Until I got pregnant again unintentionally. I checked myself into a methadone program and that got me on my feet. I placed the child with the same family (they’re both open adoptions so I still get to see them and be a part of their lives) and started back at school and work. I was doing this for a year and a half, and got back to reading Eckhart Tolle… deciding that because of what happened to me, I would never be able to achieve enlightenment. And then, since I gave up I suppose, it ended up happening. I got to a place where now I feel complete and total peace. I know now why I went through all that. I’ve found renewed purpose in my life. I want to become an awakening coach. I want to go to school for a sustainable living degree and bring new clean energy innovations to the world… help save it from climate change and the current US administration. Anyway… I began a taper in August from 90mg. Today I’m at 3mg, and I’ve been going down 1mg a day since then. It was harder for me at the higher doses… and about half way thru, around 45, my menstrual cycle came back (totally disappeared at my full dose) and during the pms something about the hormones burns up more of the methadone so that kind of sucks. I’m going down these next two days 1mg/day… and it didnt start sucking until a few days ago (so time of month apparently) and well I’m prescribed clonidine no prob, but my mom had Gabapentin from her shingles a month or so ago. Her case was actually extremely mild so she gave me her script (shes also a doctor so I’m not worried about the script sharing, usually a nono I know) and OMFG I was able to sleep two different times today, each for like a 4-5hr block! I had actually showed her your article before she gave me the okay. I am 100% confident now that this withdrawl will be a breeze.

Thank you for eveything you do. I want to be like you and use my addiction and past for a higher purpose. Be proof that one is certainly able to come back from intense addictions and be at peace with yourself. Neither my Mom nor I would have thought of the Gabapentin ourselves and I only stumbled upon your article when I was googling “best prescriptions for methadone detox”. Now I will have a much easier time bc of you ♡

Thank you for sharing your story and I’m SO HAPPY the gabapentin is helping you have a mild withdrawal from methadone!! That is so wonderful. Being able to sleep that much is a blessing during withdrawal, and I”m confident your withdrawal with be a breeze as well. I love that you want to turn your obstacle into an opportunity for higher purpose. Happiness and fulfillment in life comes from “meaning.” It’s not about we what get in life, but who we become and what we contribute to the world. So happy for you!!

hi guys, its now 22:45 tues night feeling rather pleased with myself,today i took 800mg gabba when i woke up at 6:30 along with 40mg oxy.. felt very fuzzy,almost to a confused state and very twitchy .. no big deal and absolutely no comparison to the alternative.. the fuzziness wore off in a few hrs and felt great..another 600mg gabba around 13:00 and this time felt fine..19:00 took another 800mg gabba with another 40mg oxy..back to this evening im feeling A1 and tomorrow will be the first day without oxy for a good number of years…. decided im going to heavy dose (900mg )with gabba 4 x , with no oxy… ill be in touch 😉 Enserio-jeff ,thanks for your encouragement,,means alot

That’s a good plan, can you access any sleeping tablets? I detoxed my partner on the same plan as you, 900mgs x 4 daily just be aware you may experience some visual disturbances…not bad ones or anything to freak you. In fact, he just used to giggle a bit. Sleep is absolutely vital though, so if you can get hold of something to knock you out for 7 hrs or so that would be ideal. Be careful as Gabapentin is a potenator/potentiates other drugs. In short, other sedating drugs will have a stronger effect on you due to the presence of Gabapentin. Good luck.

Thanks Enserio, your support means a lot.. its 06:40 and Ive Just woke up , no rls,no sneezing, no hot and cold flushes, i feel pretty much OK. in fact ,apart from feeling very weak and still a bit spaced, its as close to normal as can be.. like i said yesterday,i have a little oxy lefy-160mg 2 x 80 but going to try hard to resist till at least lunch time.. plan is today – 900mg gabba breakfast,same late dinner time along with (40mg oxy?) then same again 19:00.. good luck to the rest of you whos in a similar position and god bless.. again,a massive thanks Matt for this brilliant site..you deserve a knighthood for the time and dedication you have given ppl.your nothing short of an angel !!

Hawki, you are so welcome. You got this.. By reading your post it sounds like your doing great.. Just keep telling yourself you can do this and how happy your going to be without these pills controlling your life. I been where your at and if you have that mindset that you want your life back, you can do this. Also have you tried Kratom? That is what helped me get off the opiate rollercoaster. Hawki, I here for you… Please keep me updated on your progress.

Hi guys. its day 1 of kicking this oxy shit out my life and cant believe what Ive achieved in such a short time,amazing !! Lets put it this way,Saturday i took 720mg of oxy and today (Monday) Ive taken 160mg.. i felt rough this morning so took an half of an 80 which took off the edge along with 900mg of gabba. im on a coarse this week and to be honest a was a little spaced out but couldn’t feel nothing regarding w/d..forgot to mention i took another 900mg gabba about 7 o’clock yesterday evening.. again it spaced me out a little but thats a cruise !! i took the other half of the 80 oxy about 6oclock this evening along with another 900mg gabba.again spaced but feel good.i know a few of you must be thinking im still messing with the oxy but the truth is has any addict knows it would kill me just stairing at them on the shelf !! ill be completely out of pills Wednesday and no way of getting any more..its not as if there giving me a buzz tbf.Well ill continue to keep you posted but so far so good..thank you jeff and all on this site , your all amazing..XX

Hey Hawki… Best of luck my friend… You have a whole new set of friends on here now… Turn to us in your darkest times of need. We’re here for you. Fuck those drug dealers. They’re the scum of the earth! They don’t care about you… Never did! Never will! We do though. And we’ve been through what you’re going to be going through. After a month or so, everyday just gets better and better. You’ll have a new sense of pride and accomplishment. You’ll be good for you and everyone who loves you. You’ll no longer be a slave to drugs, dealers, etc… God man, that’s what I hated the worst… Having to be around those dealers and kiss their asses and be treated like a junkie… (which I was). You don’t owe them shit! Just keep fighting… Keep saying “I can do this one more minute, one more hour, one more day..”. whatever it takes. As time goes on you become stronger… A strength that is reality. Not a lie like the strength that drugs gave you. You’ll be so proud of yourself and you can even go to NA meetings if you want, to share your story with people just like you. It really helps! But we’re your sponsors for now. Call on me anytime bro… I’m here for you to talk you out of using again, if you feel like it. Have you tried Kratom yet? Try it. I use it daily. It was a life saver for me. The red vein strains of Kratom are the best. First time I took it, I swear to God, I felt like I popped 3-4 percocets. I’m not exaggerating! I even wondered how it was legal. I’ve done extensive research on it and it’s all natural, no buffers, no chemicals, etc… just a leaf from a tree in Asia that they grind into a powder. You can make tea with it, put it in a chocolate shake, a smoothie, you can put it in capsules or just take the powder with a spoon. It’s a God awful taste like that, which is why people find ways to take it differently. I usually just spoon it or put in a shake. I take 6mg, (3 teaspoons) twice a day. 5-6 mg, I found is the right amount for me. If you take a capsule, those are a half of a mg per capsule, meaning 10-12 capsules per dose. You can buy them at head shops. The quality is not as good as when you by powder in bulk online, and they ask for an arm and a leg in head shops. Online, I buy a kilo, (2 lbs), at a time and it lasts me for a couple-few months. A pack of capsules, (25 capsules), at a head shop costs between 15-20 dollars. 25 capsules is two doses, for me at least. The kilo of red vein bali that I get online is right around a hundred bucks, it’s wayyyyyyyyyyy better quality, lasts 2-3 months and the place I get it from are terrific vendors and are always sending me extra products for free and send me 25 % off discounts too. I SWEAR by kratom. I first heard about it on this blog from Matt and he was dead on correct about it. I didn’t believe it til I tried it, now I swear by it! I too took gabapentin and clonidine, (not to be confused with clonipin). It helped take that edge off, but the kratom allowed me to go back to work and function in everyday life

Ive been taking 600mg of oxy daily for the last 2yrs and am desperate to get off,,i think this site has given me the belief that i too can get off this poison.MATT,i take my hat off to you,what a gentleman you are!! its cost me thousands of pounds to keep the monkey off my back but still promise next script it will be ALL SO different and guess what,it never is.. because i ran out 2days ago so had to substitute it smoking “H”.. i blagged my doctor for it to begin with after cutting my arm and convincing him Tramodol doesn’t touch the nerve pain,he prescribed 30mg x 3 daily,i thought i was invinsable .i found out a friend of mine was on it so i thought happy days….which it was..IN THE BEGINNING..as with any love story this was short lived.. now my life,if thats what you could call it is one big struggle. i was also prescribed neurontin which i never took couldnt catch my breath when i dropped on this site..tomorrow im going for it gabba style and a shall keep all updated who wants to know..thanks ppl for making this site and my day..GOD BLESS YOU ALL..XXX

Hi. Last time I was on here was 6 mos to a year ago. I was addicted to oxy for several years, then went in the suboxone program for 5 years… Stay away from suboxone!!! I was coming on this blog looking for some kind of relief from the God awful withdrawals I went through using suboxone. My doctor was dirty and trying to extort me. I said fuck off to him, as I was so sick and tired of being sick and tired and decided to take 3 weeks off work, lay in my bed and get sick. By day 3 or 4 I wanted to die. literally… I had some left over script of gabapentin and it was my first form of relief… a little at least… Then someone mentioned something called Kratom. I got some at a head shop and felt like I popped 3-4 percocets… Literally! I was like whoa!!! I can’t believe this is legal. I by it in bulk, online now. Take 6 grams before work and 6 when I get home, 9 hours later. Sometimes I’ll mix it in a chocolate-coffee milk shake. So delicious! If you want to quit Oxy contin, get yourself some kratom, and you’ll never touch those pills again. I guarantee it 100%!!! Kratom is all natural, powdered leaves from a kratom tree. there’s no chemicals, or buffers, or anything. It’s pure! There’s a couple great places online. I usually buy a kilo, (2lbs), every couple of months. it cost around a hundred bucks. You can start with a small amount to try, but you’ll want to buy bulk after you get a taste of how amazing this kratom is. Usually the pills, or stuff you get at a head shop, doesn’t work as well as when you buy the powder. I promise you, you’ll never use oxy contin, H or anything. This kratom is a life saver! It saved my life and now I’ve been completely clean off of all drugs for close to a year or so. There’s all kinds of different strains. The best is anything “red vein” The stuff I buy every couple months is called “Red Vein Bali”, Maeng Da is good too! Good luck. Give it a try…. It gives you hope and a life again… No more drug dealers, doctors, having to go get drugs. It what I hated… the fucking drug dealers, and trying to rob peter to pay Paul, and kissing their ass, having to wait til they got it, etc… Nobody owns me anymore. I’m free!

Johnny good for you, Kratom.also saved me. It is amazing. I finally got my life back also. I was addicted t oxy and any kind of other opiate I could get my hands on from drug dealers.. One thing I do like about the Kratom is it is natural and also takes my chronic back pain away. I got addicted to opiates after a back surgery. I have never tooken pain pills in my whole life. But after popping two oxy 20mg I fell in love with it. Now I’m opiate free due to Kratom and pain free. I also oder mine off line now. I buy 3-4 ounces every few months. I take three teaspoonful a day..

hi johnny..managed to buy some kraytom,,bali red vein 250g for £50 = $ 70..??? my question to you my friend,,how do i take it,what amount,how often..be gratfull if you could give me a gheads up on the stuff..cheers hawki

Hello! I’ve been on 200mg (10 oxy 20s a day or one every hour and a half, im perscribed 400 pills a month) and the perscription doesnt get filled until tomorrow and i only have 1 half of a 10mg left for today, its currently 9:45 am, i have a date with my girlfriend around 3 or 4 , what can i do? would the pharmacy fill it a day early? or would me asking keep me even longer without it, im going to use the next script thats filled tomorrow to taper down using a method off this site. please help asap.

Sometimes the pharmacy will fill it a day early. I did that before. I once got a new prescription two weeks early because I said I dropped the bottle and they all fell into the sink hole in my bathroom. It was a lie. I wasn’t proud of doing that. I could tell they knew. Made me feel sick. But they approved an early refill. Logan you can always reschedule the date with your girlfriend that doesn’t sound like something that can’t be missed. You could also call the pharmacy and ask if they will fill it a day early. There is no harm in asking if it’s only a day early. They might have to fax your doctor to clear it, and then you might get questioned on why you ran out of meds early.

ive not seen my girlfriend in over a month due to my father being sick, its not something that can be missed. they have a real b*tch lady pharmacist working that rules with an iron fits, they are telling me that tomorrow is 3 days early because its a 33 day script but my doctor wrote 30day on it since ive had this issue before and she had the nerve to tell me it was a mistake.

Hey Logan, I know how you are feeling. Since you are probably well into withdrawal at this point you could stock up on loperamide and do high doses twice daily. Matt has an article on this website about it. I would start on the lower end and work up if needed. It’s not going to be like oxy at all but should make it a little easier to get through the next few days until you get your script. Or you could order some kratom, but by the time you receive it in the mail you will likely have your script. I noticed you posted in the gabapentin article, if you have some gabapentin it will likely help reduce some of you w/d symptoms as well, if not just ignore. Also, if you have any benzos they will likely help you sleep. Aside from that I would pick up some melatonin (herb/vitamin section of any grocery/drug store) to help with sleep and eat a high protein diet or supplement with protein powder. It a tough road you are going down for sure, I hope you are able to taper off and get this behind you. Matt has allot of great info here, maybe take a look at some other articles. Hope this helps.

How important is using the methadone prior to the gabapentin? Methadone can be a worse withdrawal than Roxy and I don’t think Methadone can be prescribed to an outpatient in my state. Do you think the Gabapentin without the Methadone will help?

I am on day 3 of withdrawing from pain pills. I am taking 300 mg gabapentin capsules about every 4-5 hours. Although it is not a complete cure all, it does help to the point that I have been able to function and get my responsibilities (work, etc.) done each day. Without it, I would be a twitching blob in the corner of the room. It especially comes in handy at night when the restless legs and skin crawling begins. I take a Gabapentin when that happens and within a half hour it goes away about 80% and I can catch 3 or 4 hours of sleep which is a god send. I only have enough gabapentin to get to day 5 or 6 and I hope I don’t withdraw from the gabapentin but at that point the worst of the opiate withdrawals should be subsiding. We’ll see what happens. I just can’t wait to be free of this damn monkey on my back for all of the obvious reasons.

Does phenibut have any of the undesirable side effects that gabapentin does? When I take gabapentin I literally feel like I’m drunk. Slurred speech, foggy brain, loss of motorskills. So I’m curious if phenibut has this too. Thanks

Phenibut wouldn’t necessarily make someone “feel drunk”. This nootropic drug was created in Russia and often used for Russian astronauts to keep them focused with improved cognition while reducing stress and allowing them to remain calm. Phenibut should not be for longterm use since tolerance can develop very quickly. Reports of a “phenibut hangover” the next day are common. Taking phenibut with certain MAOI’s can be extremely dangerous. The bipolar drug Trileptal mixed with phenibut has been fatal, according to some reports.

~MARY OAS RECOVERY SPECIALIST

*DISCLAIMER- Articles and replies to comments are for informationAL puposes only and should not be regarded as medical advice. The use of any medication or product is by choice of the reader.

I have been prescribed Percocet for the last two years. Ive always read not to go cold turkey, although I know what happens if you do. My question is, is how I am tapering a good way. I started taking 5mg once per day and pushed out the hours further and further. at this point I am at 48 hours apart and the next I plan to move to 60 hours. I take 300mg gabapentin in the am and then in the pm. Should I just stop the Percocet all together now? I so dread tapering because my mind is not addicted and i just dont want to take it anymore. but I do not want to feel those withdrawals because when I couldn’t find a pain doctor for 2 months when i moved here, I went through awful withdrawals which let to an ER trip. Any advice would be appreciated.

Since percocet (oxycodone) is a short acting opiate, it is normal to be in mild withdrawal at the 12 hour mark and full-blown withdrawal at 24 hours past the last use. However, a person’s metabolism does play a role in this; a fast metabolism brings about withdrawal symptoms sooner and a slow metabolism would take longer. However, since your dose is quite low, and you are able so go two days between dosing, it sounds like you won’t have much withdrawal at all, if any. You may feel sluggish, have yawns and sneezes and maybe a little temperature fluctuation (minor chill, sweating) but they would hopefully just be an annoyance. I believe that you aren’t physically dependent since you are able to go 48 hours between dosing. Please note: gabapentin can cause dependence also. That being said, it is a very good medicine for neuropathy , mood stabilization, and other issues, which is why some choose to stay on it.

I have been addicted to opiates for almost 15 years now. I started using to self medicate for pain issues. I am 38 years old and its been a tough battle. I had cancer at 11 years old and the chemotherapy completely destroyed my joints and nerves. I have severe arthritis and neuropathy. I have been prescribed gabapentin for awhile now and wasn’t taking it because I thought it wasn’t helping. A couple weeks ago my pain management doctor cut me off the opiates so I have been in and out of withdrawal depending on the day and what I could scrape up for money to buy heroin. I am going to try mega dosing with the gabapentin to get through the withdrawal symptoms. I went to a detox center about two months ago and came out and immediately started using again. I pray that this gabapentin will help minimize the withdrawal symptoms. I cant live like this anymore…I just want to be ok and pain free. wish me luck!11

I happened to be put on gabapentin, around the same time that I read that it can help withdrawal from opioids. So when I started the gabapentin, I simply stopped the Vicodin (I have lupus and neuropathy from autoimmunity-not diabetes) . Thank The Good Lord, I had zero withdrawal from the Vicodin. But my rheumatologist had me continue the gabapentin because it was helping my pain so much (for a while) I’ve been back on Vicodin 5 weeks now and was tapering off the gabapentin. I’ve decided I want off the opioids for good! With me already being on 300 mg gabapentin, 3 times a day, can it help get me off the Vicodin? Should I temporarily increase the dose? Or would it just not help this time, since my brain is already used to gabapentin? I’d appreciate any suggestions. God Bless!

I am very familiar with this situation, because I went through the same exact thing myself with Lyrica (very similar to gabapentin). The Dr. was prescribing pain medicine for a back injury for a couple of years. One month he also said that he wanted me to try Lyrica, so he also gave me a that script. While the narcotic pain meds required a script every 30 days (no refills) the Lyrica was written for 6 months. I hadn’t filled the script for Lyrica but I went the following month to my appointment to get the script for my pain meds. The receptionist was vague and said, “He will not be in today, call back tomorrow”. I was out of my pain meds. I did however stop at the pharmacy to fill the Lyrica. Over the next few days I kept calling but was told. “Call back tomorrow”. I was so scared because I had been through withdrawal before and knew how bad it was, but mysteriously, the withdrawal this time wasn’t that bad. That was when I discovered that Lyrica does indeed help fight withdrawal. At that time I hadn’t heard that gabapentin did, but this was in 2005-2006, so even though I’m sure others discovered it like I did, maybe accidentally too, finding information online wasn’t like it is now. I really do believe that is how the information arrives about what works for opiate withdrawal; it’s coming from the people who are addicted and desperately trying to find something….just something that helps. Ok, let me get back to my story, and I swear I’ll eventually answer your question 🙂 . So, I was able to get into another Dr for my pain meds the following week and I have to say that other than a few “handouts” from some sympathetic friends, I was having to rely on the Lyrica to fight the withdrawal. Flash forward a year or so, when I began overusing my pain meds and would have to “stretch” the ones I had left or go without but I figured that since I was using Lyrica (because I stayed on it) the withdrawal wouldn’t be that bad. I quickly found out that it took MUCH more than I had used before (I started on 100mg 2x a day). So to answer your question, I think that yes it can still work but I believe that it will take higher doses. Or, since gabapentin and lyrica are both non-narcotic medicines for pain (although Lyrica is considered a controlled drug, and I have heard talk of gabapentin being moved into the same classification), if gabapentin isn’t helping this time maybe ask your Dr for Lyrica. I know many Drs. do prescribe their suboxone patients Lyrica or Gabapentin to get through the initial withdrawal phase. I hope this helps and that I didn’t bore you with my story.

Oh my gosh. I feel so bad!!!!! I just sent an email to the email address from the site. I’m so very very sorry:( Thank you SO MUCH for your answer! This is very encouraging to me!!!!! He wants to put me on Lyrica anyway, so I’ll have that up my sleeve. But since I’ve tapered down so low on the gabapentin, to get on off of it, since it’s not helping my pain anymore, I think I’ll try,first, jacking up the dose of this, first. It was so kind of you to respond. I can’t thank you enough!!!!!! I used to be on low dose naltrexone and it helped my pain so much. But when the Sjögren’s syndrome caused me to develop neuropathy, that’s when I went on hydrocodone. I’d rather hurt, though, than be taking these all the time. They really don’t help the pain much anyway. I’m supposed to be going to a pain clinic soon, but I don’t want to be on a pain pump. Anyway, you have made my day! God bless you! I pray for a really nice and Blessed weekend for you. Thank you so very much:)

Hey peeps gabapentin works trust me just a average guy.. was on opiates 2.5 years pretty much every day…. spent God know how much money 40 k plus I would sAy… I do have nerve damage in legs but not too serious.prescribed gabapentin 1 year ago. took few days didn’t like spinning in morning.. just a normal thing when taking but stoped…. sitting in cabinet for 1 year… Sunday I said enough is a enough.. been just taking opiates recently to just feel normal and so can get a peep in the day so dont feel like shit balls… Took gabapentin for legs cause knew legs would be restless… diden’t think I would have near to none withdraw symptoms… my gf couldent beleive.. I was out in pool swimming in pool all day on day 3 of withdraw… didnt take anything first nite was going to do a sub that nite I got. but read can’t take to early. Pushed through first night. next day wasn’t bad normal aches and shit… Still didn’t think was just time for to take sub witch I was scared of subs cause so potent. So took 600 milagram of gabapentin. I was alright the whole next day little leacky little sqirts no stomach pain no fatigue. Just sneezes yawns… so took it the next night 600 mg… Next day fine little bit off but not bad at all… I was so shocked that night just felt so good about this… got energy that night.. told girlfriend let’s go out and do something… felt that good… got little restless legs that nite so took again 600 mg… that morning up at 7 am.. not a morning person at you would say.. up jumped out of bed from morning till night spent day swimming like a fish in pool all day… tonight took 300g of gabapentin cause don’t plan on taking anymore. just lowered dose even don’t feel I need just to bring down the amount from 600mg.. I will update my story in a couple days… if I reach one person I will be happy… writing this because I hope that people see thAt it’s not that bad with a little knowledge and your not alone and can do this… I came across this by looking up if any info was about gabapentin withdraw cause my brother said there is… so stumbled on this and just wanted to write story of encouragement.. thank you to Matt for starting this thread and hope he reached a lot of people from what he did.. spent time answering questions… Will post in couple days good night

So glad I came across this place. Little bit of history on myself….10 years ago I was run over by a forklift and was obviously put on pain meds (I am prescribled 3 7.5/325 mg of hydrocodone and 4 50 mg. tramadol daily) for the damage it has done to my right foot. I still to this day am on those meds. I mostly likely will be on them for the remainder of my life but I’ve gotten to the point of taking too many. I am now out until tomorrow and am freaking out about going through withdrawls. I know I need them for the chronic pain in my foot and in my right leg BUT I need to get to the point of not “reaching” for them just because they’re there. I also am on Gabapentin for the nerve damage sustained in that accident. And am on 60 mg. of Cymbalta daily. I’m just a walking medicine cabinet. Normally, I don’t run out. When I notice I am starting to get low I either taper myself or “borrow” from a friend. Well my doc appointment isn’t until tomorrow and here I now sit without them and am freaking out about going through withdraws. If I could just curl about and bed and sleep until tomorrow, I would but I have seven year twins who need their mom. Nobody told me when I started taking these 10 years ago how tethered to them I was going to become. You want to hear something ridiculous? I have the opportunity to take my family to Disney World for 8 days in Jan. and am already worrying if I will have enough to get through the trip. Don’t get me wrong…I know I need them or walking is unbearable. Glad I found this page because unlike some people around me, you all understand that the struggle with is real. What originally brought me here was the search of my gabapentin helping reduce the withdraw symptoms until tomorrow when I can get in with my doctor. This is the first time in 10 years that I have run out and it is scaring the begeegus out of me.

Hey Emma, your story reminds me of myself in many ways. In fact, I was actually at Disney about 8 years ago and ran out of pain meds after the first day. I remember having a miserable day at Epcot then going back to the car and searching for anything to take away withdrawal symptoms, then, there it was, a small bottle I had gotten from a friend a few weeks before with methadone pills in it. I had forgotten because I had plenty of oxy at the time so I hid them in my car for a rainy day. Sweet relief came after that and Disney was fun again. Addiction is truly horrible and this is how it ends up. You can’t enjoy anything without your pills. Anyway, I also wanted to throw up a friendly warning if you don’t mind. You mentioned you “borrow” from a friend when you run out and this is common behavior during addiction but be very careful. This is how many end up on much harder drugs such as heroin when pills can no longer be found and you just want relief from withdrawal. I won’t go into details how I know this but wanted to at least mention it so you can keep that in the back of your mind – be careful. By the time you get this message you may have already gone to the doc but if not, you could mention to your doc that they aren’t taking the pain away all the time and see if he will up your script (if you truly need it for pain). (I only say this because many times long term opiate use creates pain so it’s very hard to know if you still need them or not) but I don’t know your situation so let’s go with – you do need pain relief. — if your doc won’t help with this you could look into Kratom – this is a plant that is legal to purchase in the US that acts very similarly to opiates in that it binds to opiate receptors – and take this only when you run out of your pain meds. I would suggest the red strains for pain relief but I am not an expert with kratom for sure (Matt has an article here about kratom). Kratom may or may not provide as much pain relief as hydtocodone but it could help you get through a few days when needed. You could also consider methadone maintenance if you will be in pain the rest of your life. I only bring this up because with methadone maintenance you choose your own dose and can increase it at any time of needed (this is a program for those addicted to opiates and is common around the country). Methadone is very strong for pain imho and could be beneficial and is long acting so you only need to dose once a day (or more if you prefer, once you get take-homes). Please be cautious though. If I could go back to when I was only taking hydrocodone at relatively low doses and quit opiates then I would. It only gets harder the longer and higher your dose goes. I hope the gabapentin helped you get through the day ok and I hope the best for you Emma.

1. Gabapentin Works.. period 2. i took gaba with my opiates for 3 days. (TAPER) 3. Then went 7 days of 900mg 3/4 times per day 4. RLS was a bitch. couldn’t sleep. used valium. 5. clean after day 7. 6. NO WITHDRAWL Symptoms 7. Stop Taking GABA on day 7. felt amazing

What were you coming off of? I am on 110mgs of methadone and I wanted to try the Phenibut since I don’t think a doctor will prescribe to me. I see so many good choices for withdrawal symptom alliveiation but I don’t know which to choose for me? Do you think this will work for such strong opiods as methadone is?

Hi James. Glad you’re enjoying it! And typically, someone would use these large doses for the first 4 days after coming off oxy, maybe for 5-6 at most, because you don’t want to develop a dependence to gabapentin. Ask your doctor the appropriate dosing plan for your individual needs and follow their instructions. Best of luck to you!

Ive been precribibed gabapentin for a foot amputation ive been getting lots of phantom pains but im also on 35 mls methadone daily (reduced over 9 monthes from 75 mls). I had no idea gaba could be used for opiod withdrawing but i have noticed im not needing my methadone and i only take 100 mlg gaba 3 times a day

Hi Matt…I am considering using Gabapentin and high does Lorperimide to detox off heroin. I’ve used Gabapentin before and it worked really well…except my RLS was terrible still. So I want to use high dose Lorperimide aswell. I know you are not a doctor but have some of your other commentators on here tried this method, what doses did they use ?

Everyone is different, and results can and will vary. That being said, I’ve never heard from someone that used both of these methods together (even though I’m sure it’s been done). Although many people have left comments to say just using one of these methods worked. Doses will vary depending on the person and severity of opioid dependence as well. Please fill us in on your progress to let us all know how your plan goes.

Hello everyone, I have been addicted to pain killers for over half of my life. I started using at 14 after a burn on my thumb and pointer finger left me needing a skin graft surgery. The entire healing process, including physical therapy, took a little over a year. My parents never kept the pain meds locked up and didn’t notice how quickly I would run out. The doctor just kept filling refill requests no matter how early they came in. After that, it was a 15 year on again, off again (but mostly on) struggle with drugs. However, for some reason when I got tired of whatever drug I was using as my “go to” choice at the time, I was able to just put it down and walk away without looking back. I could do that with every drug except for pain killers. In my 20s I began to find connections to buy pain killers off the streets. After 6 years of daily use, I finally decided to get my act together and attempt true sobriety (which was a state of being I had not known since I was 14). I didn’t want my parents to know about my drug habit so I felt I had to go through the w/d process cold turkey and completely alone. It was terrible but I did it. Luckily for me even though I had been using daily for many years, I hadn’t been taking very much per day. I was sober for about 3 months. Then I got sick and was given cough syrup with hydrocodone in it. Back to the starting gate. Except this round was far worse. I was taking about 400-600mg of oxy a day. I could survive off of about 250-300mg a day but would suffer from hot flashes and bursts of anxiety. It was hard to even find dealers that could keep me supplied with the massive quantity I was consuming. I got to the point where I just didn’t want to leave the house and be away from my stash. It was an addiction and an obsession. I decided that my new year resolution for 2016 was that I was going to break free from the grip opiates had on me. I still didn’t want my parents to know that I had this addiction. They financially support me so rehab was not an option. Methadone and suboxone were not an option either because I had no medical insurance. I had been on 600mg a day of gabapentin for about 2 years for anxiety which was raised to 900mg after a near fatal car crash last April. I didn’t taper down my dose of oxy slowly after Jan 2nd of this year because I didn’t have enough left to do so. I went from 300mg down to 200 the next day and 100 for two days until I was out. The morning I ran out I went to my dr claiming I had the stomach flu (I don’t recommend you lie to your doctor and looking back I realize I should have just told the truth) and I got something for the nausea and upset stomach issues. I took 600mg of gaba 4 times daily, the prescription strength anti diarrheal 3 times daily and .25mg of klonopin at night (probably wouldn’t have needed that to w/d comfortably, but took it because of night time PTSD issues) for a week. I’m not kidding when I tell you that I basically had zero w/d symptoms. I went from two years of a 600mg a day oxy habit down to zero in 11 days. Four days of dose reduction and a week on a higher dose of gabapentin and a strong anti diarrheal. I only wanted to share my story because I think it’s important that people know it is possible to detox from opiates quickly and comfortably. The idea of w/d can actually be scarier than going through the process itself. It’s portrayed in films, TV and popular media as being this unavoidable near death experience if you want to be clean, but it doesn’t have to be that way at all. Next Tuesday it will be 5 months since I ended that chapter in my life. It feels so much better to not have my life complete controlled by a pill. Thank you for reading about my journey and I hope every single one of you finds what works best for you to break free of the hold opiates has on you. Light and love to all!

Hi Melmel. I’d like to know how you’ve been doing. I myself have been in a 8 year battle with opiates. I’ve quit hundreds of times. The w/d is what usually sends me right back. I can’t take off work so I just try to go thru it, and apparently have failed so far. I got some gabapentin, 100 mg capsules, and was wondering if you had side effects or felt dependant on gabapentin while and after taking it. What did you do for the psychological aspect of opiate addiction. I definitely don’t take as much as you did. Whatever I can afford that day. 30-75 mg per day. And you would think the withdrawal isn’t that bad on that little, but it’s been enough to keep me stuck in this he’ll for 8 years. How long did it take to get a healthy mental state back. For me I think a big part of it is that it’s become such a big part of my life. Go to work, snort pills, sleep, repeat. I started taking them for pain from a near fatal cawr accident but it turned into much more than that. Any advice would be appreciated. Im ready to start living again and today I’m starting the journey once again.

Congratulations,. I so want off these pills. I’m addicted to anything I could get my hands on oxy, percs, Vic’s, norco etc… I was up to 80mg a day but can’t afford that anymore so I’m down to 30-50 mg. This is my first relaspse. After a back surgery in 2010 I got addicted. Such a bad addiction I got flagged and doctors won’t prescribe me pain meds unless I have a surgery.. I’m blacklisted. I did go to Rehab for this addiction. By 2011 I was clean after being in rehab for a month. Now January of this year I had Carpol tunnel surgery. Yep, got a script of oxy after surgery and here I am back to my addiction. My question is while taking Gaba for withdrawals how is your energy level? My kids don’t know I relasped and if they did they would seriously disown me and deny me my Grandkids which I take care of on a daily bases Hope to hear back from you

Hey Sadness. I am in the same boat as you, after 2 years off pain meds I relapsed after a root canal which came with an oxy script. i am working on getting off as well and almost there. As for your question on energy levels on gabapentin, I can’t answer from first hand use as I haven’t taken it yet but according to others it will make you drowsy. Of course you already know your energy levels will be low just from getting off the oxy and I don’t think gabapentin will help with this but is supposed to help get rid of many other withdrawal symptoms and help with sleep. Check out dlpa to help with energy, Matt has an artical on it here. Only time will bring energy levels back fully but this can help. Also, ginseng may help some with this along with a high protein diet or supplementation. Hope this helps.

Hey, Jeff Thank you for responding to my comment. I’m still battling with this addiction. Right now I’m just getting by on what I can get my hands on. This vicious cycle has me so depressed. I’m not even getting high on these anymore. Just taking them to get a bit of energy.

But I only have two more vicodin 10mg left. I’m planning to make these my last two I take.. My doctor prescribed me gabapentin for my syatic nerves I have in my leg and I’m going to try to use them to help with my withdrawals. Wish me luck, because my problem is I’m so weak, I’m not strong at all when it comes to quitting these pills.. Also Jeff, how are you doing? Have you tried the gabapentin yet? Would love to hear back from you.. Thanks

Hey, it is a vicious cycle like you say and a tough one to beat but with determination can be done. I’m sorry I can’t speak from experience on gabapentin but many have come through here with great results. Often saying it takes away all withdrawal symptoms except lack of energy. I tried to get a script but my doc wouldn’t do it. I did get Clonidine though so should get some relief there. I hope it helps for you and you beat this my friend.

You could try kratom to get by for a few days although if you don’t have any inhand it may take a few days to arrive. I have seen it locally in gas stations and such where I live but don’t know the quality of this kratom. There is allot of junk out there for sure. Check out Matt’s article here and use his suggestion for where to buy. White Borneo gives energy and red Bali helps relax and pain but mixed together it’s better imo. Top extracts is great to deal with to. Also DLPA can help through this time as well. If you are looking for prescription meds that will help check out gabapentin for sure and clonidine can help as well. If you don’t have access to these you can order phenibut online which is similar to gabapentin but be careful and don’t take more than two or three days in a row as it can be addictive (this caution should be taken with gabapentin was well imo). Hope this helps my friend.

I am on day 4 of being off methadone. I started using gabapentin on the second day and have been taking 900mg 4 times a day. It seems like a lot but I have panic disorder on top of the usual anxiety that comes along with withdrawal. I do have a klonopin script but I can’t get new one until the 1st. But amazingly I feel no anxiety. The only thing is I am groggy. Makes me feel a little drunk lol. But I have also been taking a product called Zija. It’s amazing because it gives you almost all the natural nutrition you need for a day. You should all Google it 🙂 anyways I just wanted to let everyone know that gabapentin works wonders for withdrawal. I want to know if this is safe to do with the vitamin C mega dosing? Please let me know because I’d like to get the vitamin C tonight if possible. Good luck everyone! I know we can do this and get our lives back 🙂 God bless!!

Just finishing day 7 and have quit taking the gabapentin yesterday. Still had some RLS or feels more like “floppy fish syndrome”. Arms and legs feel like I need to continually move them. I started the mega dosing vitamin C the 28th and think the combo between gabapentin and that are really the best thing ever combined in the world. I was taking 50mg methadone daily and have a 6 year opiate addiction in which I used any kind of opi available. Even had a 6 month stint of shooting up H. I just wanted to give a little bit more background story for anyone in similar boat. Looking back I think I could’ve gotten away doing only 600mg gabapentin 4 x day instead but I tend to be a “just in case” kind of person. Most of my physical symptoms have abated, just suffering the low energy and doldrum moods. I’m not sure what route yet I want to take to help rectify these issues but I am happy to say I am on the long road to recovery and it really does feel amazing 🙂

Me and my husband are both heroin addicts. We both really want to say goodbye to this addiction but with working and having to take care of our daughter it seems impossible. Even though I want off of this shit for her. We have gabapentin available to us that is 600mg and when I took 3 or 4 I got muscle jerks bad enough that it would throw my phone out of my hand. But I also feel like I need that many to feel halfway functioning. ..do you know if I continue to take that many if the jerk will stop? I’m so desperate to get off of this. We have 2 subs right now that we haven’t touched since we got them 2 months ago. When I’m sick I sweat really bad and get a killer pain in my leg and can’t hardly move. I just want help to get off of this shit and get the devil out of my life that I’ve been putting in my veins for so long. I’m starting to really hate myself because of this.

I’m so sorry for ur struggle . I have just started gabapentin as a way to help when I don’t have norco … I don’t know u personally, but ur comment made me want to pray for u and ur struggle … I hope we both beat are issues…

I’m in the UK and lucky enough to have access to pregablin which is also gabapentin. I have 6 yr H habit and gabapentin is amazing for detox. I’ve detox before with them and had no withdrawl, been happy to get up and about which is unheard of usually as I should be rolling around unable to do anything. Well done for publicising this for withdrawl it is an amazing help.

Yes, the best thing to do is get up and try to function! Even though u make feel like the walking dead- your not! Your still alive n hopefully by now the worst is over…important to take lots of different vitamins, eat good throw fruits & vegt in the blender. eggs. N bananas will help your stomach

Dear Matt, Do you think RXing Suboxone for opiate withdrawal was one of the biggest jokes ever played on addicts by Big Pharma (and now the prescribing physicians who are fully aware of how horrible it is to get off of it after you start taking it). I honestly believe some people ought to go to prison over this. All they’re doing is laughing all the way to the bank and perpetuating an already horrible mess they started with the pills. I am furious that I was played like this. They gave me Sub to get off Methadone. There is absolutely no diff except the Methadone cost me $60 a month and the Subs $500 plus per month, oh yeah and the fact that the ER doctors and surgeons who treated me in the ER after my arm was mutilated by a pitbull would give me NO PAIN MEDS because I was on Sub. Two years at $500 a month and CANNOT get off this crap. I am trying the Neurontin treatment which I thought up on my own and then read these articles and posts. I appreciate what you do because after the doctors HELP US get us hooked on this shit they discard us like yesterday’s trash or keep us around to take our money (and everyone else’s money in our families) and treat us like last week’s next door neighbors trash. Never again. I am done. My daughter is 5 years old and the only mommy she knows is the addict. This crap has taken EVERYTHING from me and therefore HER and that’s not right…I wish all of my fellow addicts here the best in their endeavors to kick this. Y’all may not believe this, but YOU DESERVE A LOT MORE THAN THIS. Carry on all, you CAN do it and it’s going to be so worth it.

Just took 300mg gabbapenten been taking 15-30mg oxycodone daily for 3 months want to be done!!! Today is Thursday night hoping I can make it to Monday with no oxy!? Am I being crazy or do you think I’ll still deal with withdrawal symptoms???

Hey Carie, if this is your only stretch of opiates (3 months) your withdrawal shouldn’t be that bad. Everyone is different of course but in my early days withdrawals were very light and easy to get through. Please stay away if at all possible after this, take it from someone who has been on and off pain pills for many years and been through withdrawal countless times. They will get far worse and much harder to stop. I’m not lecturing you here just offering advise, take it for what it is. I wish someone would have stopped me years ago before it got so hard to stop. The gabapentin should give you relief and oxy withdrawals only last a few days so you will be good. Hope the best for you.

I think Suboxone is a very helpful and needed medication, however, I also believe that most of the time, the patients are not educated enough before being placed on the medication. I also believe that there is not enough help for them while trying to come off this powerful medication. I think it’s probably a money thing. More people stuck on Suboxone means more easy money. Sad, but true.

Hi Mindy. In reference to what you said, I think you make some valid points, however, I also think Sub can be helpful, if your doctor is weaning you down as you go along. Meetings are helpful and counseling is helpful too. I am on day 4 of withdrawal and started taking the gabapentin and clonidine. It is definitely taking the edge away and giving me a little bit of comfort. I agree that there are some “bad” doctors out there, who don’t give a damn about us. The reason I went cold turkey off of sub, was because my doctor was trying to make me pay him more money (on the side, in the office, in cash… no receipt or anything). I did it a couple times, and when he pulled it again, I told him to F off and that I’m not going to be his slave anymore. I reported him to the BBB and talked to my attorney, but it’s my word against his… Good luck to you. I really feel for you. It does get better and better… every day. Just stick with it and keep telling yourself how much better you’ll be for your daughter… You can do it Mindy:)

Please report the doctor who did this to the board of medicine in your state. Just google for whatever state you live in, their board of medicine. They will investigate. This is a SERIOUS CRIMINAL breach of trust, if I am understanding correctly what happened from your comment. Chances are your State’s Board of Medicine will be VERY interested in your report. Another agency you can report this kind of unprofessional behavior to would be the DEA, our federal Drug Enforcement Agency. When you go their website, which is a dot gov one, you can click contact us and see a page of phone numbers to call-they direct you to select the office nearest you. The DEA is currently paying closer attention to physician narcotic prescribing practices than ever before in history. They are cracking down.

Hey Mike, I certainly understand where you are coming from. I do, however, believe there is a place for suboxone. As someone who has taken it both short term and long term I think it is great for a quick taper off methodone or other opioids. With that said, I think long term use should be avoided if at all possible. It’s relatively easy to taper off of if only taken for a short few months but once you exceed 6 or 9 months (different for everyone) it becomes one of the hardest opiods to stop imo. So if used properly it is extremely useful but unfortunately doctors seem to have no knowledge of this so they cannot pass this info along to their patients. Hopefully one day this will be common knowledge and fewer people will get stuck on suboxone long term.

Methadone and Suboxone (Subutex) are the more difficult to stop than any other opiate. Opiates such as Norco, Vicodin, Oxycodone have around 5 days of acute withdrawls while Methadone and Suboxone have around three (3) weeks of nasty withdrawls. I would avoid both. They help with opiate withdrawals if taken for a short period of time because they have a half-life, but they are hell to stop if you try to stay on them for a long period of time.

Mindy, I am your story. I went to my pain doc back in 2012 and said I want off all these opiates and he said to me , well what are you going to do to manage your pain? And I said , well thats your job, so he told me about another drug called suboxone that has pain management properties and will give me my life back. Well he was right , i got my life back i was able to go back to work full time and life was good. What he didnt tell me was that they could give me permanent brain damage and when i changed insurance companies when i changed jobs they wouldnt cover anymore so it cost me as well $500 a month and i lost my home because of it. I have since had a major back surgery and back on opitaes for a year and a half now, oxy and dilauded. Im constantly in PAWS, I cant live like this anymore and have considered suicide everyday. I feel like I have no way out. I know once I get off the drugs PAWS will be even worse, and the company that makes suboxone told me my only option is to go back on sub for the rest of my life!!!!!! if anyone can help me give me some hope that my brain will go back to normal or what I can take for the PAWS, i would be beyond grateful. I will not go on living like this it has taken myself and thrown her in the trash. I cant function. Life is worse than ever for me. I have gabapentin and xanax. I know if i go to detox i wont get eiher one so i have to do this alone. But its the after math that terrifies me. Is subs the only way I will ever feel normal again????

Hi Donna, as a former methadone patient taking up to 350 mg at one point in time and being on a clinic for almost ten years, I want to say there is hope. Suboxone and methadone are the worst drugs out there but I have successfully kicked my methadone habit and the neurontin definitely helps (I take 300 mg 4X a day) and if I run out I don’t feel any major withdrawals just a little sweaty. I think it’s more a mind thing than anything else, just having something vs. nothing but it was a good six months before I felt right after kicking methadone. it almost killed me I had to do it cold turkey in jail and was extremely sick for at least a month, 85 pounds severely dehydrated, couldn’t walk straight my equilibrium was so off but I wouldn’t go back to it for anything, it terrified me so badly. I did relapse on opiates after almost three years clean but after getting a taste of what life can be like not to be a prisoner of drugs anymore, it’s given me a new perspective on life and what I want out of it. Good luck to you.

Hello, I am on 110mg methadone. I want to get off of it cold turkey. What would you suggest as a detox regimine? I am scared of WDs because of going cold turkey in the past. I would hallicunate from lack of sleep. The fear is holding me back from starting because there are so many good things mentioned for WDs but I don’t know which one to choose or how to go about making a plan. 🙁

I am a father…I couldn’t have better expressed my emotions the way you have. I am crushed by my choices right now, but at least I know there’s someone who feels this the same way I do. I still hate myself at the moment, but I will respect even my choice to be an addict one day when it’s all hindsight. A grateful addict. No gratitude yet, but yes, it can be done by the committed.

Does gabapentin cause any withdrawals coming off of it? Also, when taken in those high dosages, does gabapentin produce any kind of drowsiness or alternatively any kind of high? I ask because want to be sure I can take these high amounts and still be able to function normally at work etc?

I’ve had people tell me at high doses it can make them groggy. Also, there can be withdrawal symptoms from using gabapentin, but just like if you use opiates for only a few days then stop, with gabapentin for only a few days during acute withdrawal I’ve never heard of anyone experiencing withdrawal coming off from such a short time. Talk to a doctor about this.

I am wondering how much Gabapentin I should take daily. I take about 150 milligrams of Oxycodone a day. I have 300 milligram capsules of Gabapentin. What would be a sufficient dose to decrease my withdrawal symptoms or hopefully eliminate mild withdrawal symptoms?

Hi Jim, I would start with 300-600 mg and see how that goes. I am in w/d from 80mg hydro a day since 2009.. I can get away with taking 300 mg before bed and I will sleep all night. I did this while I was tapering and Now I’m 34 hours in without. Tomorrow will be the real test and will probably need 600mg ..it makes me pass out so I haven’t taken it during the day yet. I’ll see how I feel tomorrow 🙂 good luck

I am a lil worried, I can take 1800mg of gabapentin and not get sleepy!!! I want to use this to get off of Norco.. I took 1600 mg of felt a cool head change , but the next day , same amount and no effect ..

I’m a 59 yr old woman with four grandkids and have been on methadone for 10 yrs. After being treated like a criminal at a pain management clinic for eight months, I basically walked out with no refill. I had squirreled away about three weeks of methadone, so I tapered it. The dosage was 60 to 70 milligram pill form. I have 3 diseases which is why I was put on it. Lupus, fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis. Last Sunday , I took my last pill and declared myself free at last. Little did I know, the next day my living hell started. I am 8 days into detoxing at home and had I not looked this webpage up, I would probably be in the hospital. I’ve lost 13 pounds in 8 days but I think I’m going to survive. Thanks so much for being there. Mary

I have been taking oxy, norco, percs and Vicodin for two months now I been taking from 15-50 mg a day my addiction has gotten so bad I’m now buying them off the street. I want so bad to get off them. But I keep taking them because I’m so scared of the withdrawals and mostly not having the energy they give me. Matt how much Gaba would I have to take to take to help get off these pills and what would you recommend for me to take to give me energy, I cannot be laying around in bed due to I take care of my Grandkids every day. Please help me I’m to the point of ending my life, because of my addiction. The withdrawals get me so depressed. Help!!!??

Hey Marie, I know where you are coming from 100%. For me I loved the energy they gave me in the beginning for work. I could outwork anyone there while taking pain pills. The truth is, this is the battle, in the beginning its the energy and good mood they put you in but that is short lived. Eventually you are taking them just to keep from getting sick, and on it goes. I think you are doing the right thing by quitting now. And yes, your energy will be down for a period but it will return with time. The good news is you haven’t been taking them for to long so you should rebound fairly quickly (of course everyone is different). Just don’t talk yourself into taking ‘just a little longer’. Set a date (if you haven’t quit already) and don’t go back for anything. I hope you don’t mind me offering advice here. Gabapentin will help in withdrawal, there will still be some but very manageable. Gabapentin will likely make you groggy to but you should only need to take it for a few days to a week maybe. If I were you I would start at the recommended dose (usually 300mg) and go from there. Most likely that will be all you need to get you through. You will need to stop the gabapentin before your energy will return generally since it can make you tired. Matt actually has an article here on how to get your energy back and mentions ginseng as a possible help here. Also, l-tyrosine and dlpa are amino adidas that can help some with energy as well. You can take up to 2000mg 3 times a day of these to to help but must take on an empty stonach 1 hour before any food. Time is the best healer here though so don’t expect it to be instantaneous. Also a high protein diet or protein supplementation will help heal quicker and multi vitamins/minerals. I hope this helps. You can beat this. I know it seems impossible at times but don’t let that get you down. You CAN do it. Please keep us posted on your progress if you have time. And check out matt’s other articles here as well.

Hey Matt, I hope you can help with this question. I have only enough gabapentin for 2 days (7 100mg caps) after I finish this would it be safe to take phenibut the next day? Not mixing them together but taking them separate days. I have plenty phenibut but am unable to get more gabapentin. I don’t want to take anything that is unsafe and I know nothing about these medications. Thank you for your help.

Since you’re not mixing them I don’t see what it would be unsafe. However, I’m not a doctor so I can’t give medical advice. But I can tell you what I would in that situation. If it were me, I would probably take phenibut for 3 days after and then stop.

It all started with roxy then the the heroin took hold. I have tried rehabs, subs, methadone which was the worst thing I’ve ever done I was also still shooting heroin almost the whole time a was on methadone. At one point I was on 120 mgs of methadone and shooting 20-30 bags of dope a day . You can definitely still get high while taking methadone. The dirty dr at the clinic left and a clean one came in, the right way gave a quick detox because I was a “liability” . So I shot more heroin to get thru the withdrawal . One day my friend decided to kind of abduct me and drive to California which is 3100 miles away from where I’m from . I’m was high enough and tired enough of my life to go. It was the worst time of my life I wanted to die. 5 days later I was in Cali and started working on a medical marijuana farm and the marijuana helped me so much.this is not a marijuana rant. I had 15 months off of everything but marijuana but still had no energy, and out of nowhere someone gave me 10 norco 10 mgs. And I was hooked immediately . Today is about a year later and still hooked and now drinking a lot . So I felt the need to ramble because I stumbled across this and tommorow will be the first day without norcs I’m working and I know what withdrawals will hold. I have one 800 mg gabapentin and a half of a Valium 10 mg I just need wisdom and help I also have hep c from dirty needles I’m 26 and wanna live a good life and done running …. – just a rant from a tired junkie

What an epic story. And you know what? I knew someone in New York that detoxed off 300 mg of OxyContin with marijuana alone, and said it was a pretty easy process! In a study marijuana even reduced symptoms from people tapering methadone. I wrote an article on this as well:

I was taking hydros for about three years and quit them once before. The withdraws were horrendous and I vowed to never get hooked again. Too late, I was prescribed 7’s at three a day but found I had to up them to 4 and 5 and then 6 a day. I found I was running short by the end of the month so I’d scramble to get more either by doc hopping or actually buying them a few times off of the streets. Long story short, my insurance picked up on what I was doing and advised my doc so I was cut off. Even though he kindly gave me one last script before booting me, I ran out of those in the same fashion as in previous months. Enough was enough! So I decided that I was not going to look for another PM doc nor make a phone call to the “guy I know”. The anxiety the first day was tough and I braced myself for the week to come. I’ve been through that hell once before but figured I survived that time and I will this time too. Welp, I’m on day 3 and I feel pretty dang good. No hot and cold flashes, crawling skin, nausea, nor lack of sleep. You know why? Bet you do…. Gabapentin! Son of a gun! I was wondering why I didn’t feel so bad and have the horrible withdraws and it’s because of that wonderful little (big actually) pill. So thankful to have found your page and see this because it just confirmed what I thought yesterday. Gabapentin works!

My story pretty much verbatim. As I’m counting my Norco for the month and realizing I will be many days short I am so thankful I also have a prescription for gabapentin which I take 3x a day 600/600/1200 at bedtime. I really hope it keeps withdrawal at bay while I solo parent my 3 kiddos. Chronic pain is a nasty bitch- it takes over by causing you to live in agony then surprises you with addiction to the medications you “need” to live through the agony. I am glad I stumbled upon this post and your comment- it gives me hope that I will survive my fifth withdrawal in 4 years.

J/w how long you’ve been on the gabapentin and how long youve been on that dose because i just started taking it less than a week ago for my day 40 methadone withdrawal (yes it takes this long its crazy i know) and it worked wonders but has stopped working already. I had to take 8-300mg capsules today just to get 5 hrs of sleep.

Joe- that seems like a lot. So sorry you’re having a hard time sleeping. 300 mg usually knocks me right out.. The only problem with gabapentin is that it starts to not work at low doses fairly quickly so I will have to keep taking more. My doctor said it was okay because of the fact that the tolerance levels move up quickly..or something of that effect.. Not sure it tolerance is the right word to use..something about the medication more so then body tolerance. I think he mentioned caping out at 1600 mg Which far surpasses what you are taking .. Maybe someone can add to this. Good luck

Does gabapentin really work had some surgery and took my last perk and i know when ive been out before got a little sick i have gabapentin dont want to be sick ive been taking 600mg of gabapentin for a month if i increase my dose if i do have withdrawals will it help and is it safe cause im scared been on pain meds only 4 month. I take 5 or 6 a day. Thank u.

I’m just starting to come off a heavy oxycodone habit. I will be completely out tomorrow and I know the withdrawal is going to be brutal. Can I take phenibut with Kratom. I know that the phenibut alone won’t be enough but I would like to try it and see if it helps

Great article. It really does work as I’ve used it personally. Also used phenibut. Be careful on that, does work but your tolerance literally builds everytime you take and people have stories of hell getting off that (read up on it). Also, don’t let your dr prescribe lyrics (stronger form of nuetronin) and is VERY expensive. That would have cost me $220. Nuetronin was $8. Literally works the same, you just take more of the nuetronin. Lastly, clonodine is a MUST. It’s prescription but you have to have it. It helps with mainly the cold sweats and goose flesh. If you’re lucky, you’re dr will also give you some benzos. With those 3, anyone can make it the 3-5 days.

I going through suboxone withdrawal and a friend have me 5 gabapentin and I felt amazing I had energy and felt great I’m also tried withdrawal ease which heLPS also but the gabapentin was a real surprise.

I have been on 24 mg of Bubinorphine a day for the last 2 yrs, was highly addicted to opiates prior to getting on the subtext, 3, 8 mg pills per day, but I snorted my prescription, which is another Part of my addiction. I decided to not go to my Dr appointment and run out the last if my prescription. I have been 7days now cold turkey, nothing, I’m going nuts…. I’ve been researching, this since b4 I Decided to detox myself, I am also trying to keep my job, 6days a week construction, work remodeling homes… omg , I just want the RLS AND MUSCLE TENSIONS TO STOP, I NEED SLEEP…… I came across some 300mg gabapentin today, I took 1200 mg offrip It took the edge off but I’m thinking 2 more? To sleep tonight? I also have 50 mg trazadone , I in fact did take 200mg last night of trazadone and slept well….. How should I go about this with the gabapentin? & I’m also interested in this phenibut, supplement I’ve been researching….. I just want my life back I’m 28, hard working man, I want to take control of my life….. any advice is highly appreciated…. I’m also thinking of going to na meeting at least once a week, can’t hurt , with helping the long term psychological aspect….. ??????

Dude did you make it through? 24mg of bube is HUGE. Impossible to stop cold turkey. I’m getting suboxone and trying to get down to 1mg. Anyway, I’ve used phenibut and it does really work. BR CAREFUL your tolerance literally every time you use it. I went from 500mg to 2000mg during my withdrawals. Try to get nuetronin (gabatein) from a dr, also clonodine is a must and see if they will give you some benzos. That way you at least have a fighting chance.

It’s interesting to read everyone’s experiences. I went off of 16mgs of Sub cold turkey and didn’t enjoy it but survived it quite well. I started at 24mg after being stuck on hydros at high doses for years.

Congrats Jill on getting Free from opiates and for doing it cold turkey. My hat is off to you for that. I’ve done cold turkey many times on different opiates and the shirt acting ones are easiest imo after long term use. Truthfully the best way to go cold turkey imho is to take short acting opiates for at least a few months (if switching form long acting) them switch to buprenorphine for a very short period (one or two weeks tops) then stop. Stopping buprenorphine after long term use is extremely hard for most people unless using the method I mentioned above. On another note, withdrawals become more and more difficult the more times you go through them. The first few times for me were actually pretty easy compared to what I go through now. Jill, I wish you all the best in your continued freedom from opiates. Please don’t let anything turn you back to them.

Hey. I have been on subutec for about a year and I have done at least one a day! (Snorting)Now I am trying to get off of it and need some direction of you will! I have a couple of tramadol and gabapentin!! Would either of those help??

Im on both of those meds n I have 4 1/2 yrs clean n sober. Im 35 yrs old n was addicted to everything mainly opiates. So my question for u is do u think I relapsed if I am taking these meds n sometimes I get this drowsey eurphoric feeling come over me..I just think it reminds me too much of being on perks..I need the tramadol bc I have bo e on bone in both my knees plus arthritis n fibromyalgia so I have pain 247. Do u consider me to have relapsed if I sometimes take a couple more then prescribed. I dont wamt to lose my te I wwrkd really hard to stay sober I jus want my pain to end

Everyone is different. Some people have told me they can get by on 500 mg to 600 mg doses a few times a day, others tell me they need about 900 mg to 1,000 mg a few times a day. They start off with a lower amount, and work their way up from there if more is needed.

Disclaimer: This comment is for informational use, and is not medical advice. Talk to you doctor about how much gabapenin to take coming off opioids.

I find that when I’m coming off opiates I’m very emotional… There’s a “smell” in the air… I call it “life”… It reminds me of before I started taking pills. I love music so much more… Especially Christian music.

Fortunately I have Klonopin Xanax and Gabapentin…Gabapentin helps wonders with my Xanax and Klonopin which is prescribed…Imodium AD will help diarrhea stomach cramps and appetite…Clonodine helps wonders too…This is my 2nd day detoxing off heroin..I got hooked on Oxycontin 14yrs ago..I have to say the 4 drugs I explained to u that will EASE your withdrawals is a fact…Increase the Gabapentin daily till u get to 1600mgs..xanax and Klonopin is a wonder drug taken with Gabapentin…Trust me I’ve done this before and didn’t experience no withdrawals….

Congrats! I’m currently looking for all these options to use to help make detox easier. Mu only question when it comes to the gabapentin is what happens when you stop taking it? Does it just postpone withdrawals,or can you stop taking it and be free of everything?

I have been on Oxycodone 30’s for almost 10 years. On my bad days I can take as many as 30. When i’m running out I can take 2 or 3. I have been on Suboxone a few time with great success until the PAWS kick in. They kick in very fast for me since by the 2nd day of suboxone I cant get motivated to get out of bed. The only time I can jump right out of bed nice and early to have a productive day is when I have pills, otherwise I can’t do anything except be miserable. I learned a few things from this site that I didn’t know and I think what you doing is so great, to give back when people need someone the most. Many people don’t have the best support system so this site is excellent so again Matt great job. I am ready to get off these pills for good. I have access to certain drugs so if you can point me in the right direction with what I have and if I should get anything else to help my situation I would greatly appreciate it. I have two little kids and they are starting to get older so i need to be a great father for them. I CAN”T DO THAT THE WAY I AM. I NEED TO CHANGE FOR ALL OF US. I currently have Effoxor XR, Gabapentin, Klonopin, Valerian Extract, and Suboxone. I won’t take any of them if you don’t think it is best. I’m just looking to work this plan the best way with what I have and what I should buy to give me the best chance, especially with the PAWS. Thanks.

Thanks for your comment and kind words. I’m really proud of you for making the decision to take back control of your life!! I am not a doctor, so you’ll have to discuss your plan with that person, however, I can give tell you what I might do in a similar situation.

I would likely just mega-dose with gabapentin for a few days to get off opiates cold-turkey. Then I would use Klonopin for a few days after that. And I would follow the protocol for PAWS after that:

However, each human is so unique, and thus to be safe you really need to discuss a detox plan with you physician. But you certainly have a good mix of powerful medications to help you. I wish you the best of luck.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. This comment is for informational use only. It’s not intended to treat, diagnose, or prevent any disease. Always check with your doctor before changing your diet, trying any new supplements, medications, exercise or opiate tapering programs.

Matt, Thank you for replying to my comments. I know your not a Dr so it’s hard for you to give direct advice so I appreciate that you explained what you would do if you were in a similar situation. I have been addicted for a long time so I do have a few more questions that I hope you can help with. I have had great success in the past to get through the acute wds with suboxone. Even though I’m on a very high amount of oxycodone I can take suboxone and get off it by tapering the subs with in a week to 10 days pretty easily. I have done this a few times before only to get hit hard with paws. One time I managed to stay clean for 3 months after stopping the subs but it was so hard going through the paws. At that time I didn’t even know about paws and the effects on the brain. I just thought it was so hard because I’m an addict. Since doing more research and now finding your site I’m much more informed of why I have always continued to relapse. You said in your response that you would go the gaba route even though I have access to subs. Since I can do the subs and get off them quickly and easily do you still think I should go the mega dose of gaba route or the subs then start the paws treatment? Also what is a mega dose of gaba? I’ve only taking gabapentin for 3 days about a month ago to help with some short term extreme back pain that was much worse than my normal back issues by request of my Dr. So I don’t have any real experience with gaba. I don’t want to not take enough and get wds or take to much and get high or fall asleep. I know everyone is different so it’s hard for you to give an actual amount to take and again I understand your not a Dr so this wouldn’t be directly telling me what to do. I’m on about 20 to 30 30mg roxys a day and I have a high tolerance to meds as well. Do you recommend i taper before starting the gaba or the subs? I have gone right from 30 pills a day and then start the subs and I’m fine and off the subs within a week or so. I might be fine physically but by not tapering I may be making the process after stopping the subs harder, so do you recommend tapering in this situation? It’s confusing because I know in 10 days from now I can be off the subs and starting my paws treatment. However I have heard so many good things about gabapentin I am interested to see if that would be a better route for me. I’m sorry if I’m rambling on, I’m just trying to make sure to do this the best way to give myself the best possible way to get off these things for good. Once again thank you for your help.

There are so many different ways to go. Perhaps you would like to taper your opiates for a few weeks, then take Suboxone for a few days, then take gabapentin in the dosages that were used in the studies I linked to in this article.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. This comment is for informational use only. It’s not intended to treat, diagnose, or prevent any disease. Always check with your doctor before changing your diet, trying any new supplements, medications, exercise or opiate tapering programs.

Hi Bryan!! I’ve read a lot of these posts and I felt closest to yours! I know its a couple months old but I hope your doing well!!! I just want to say that I am so proud of your determination to get off the opiates! I am also in the same situation and sick of feeling like a slave to the medication. I am only 31! I have a herniated disk in my lower back S1-L5 ( i know that doesn’t mean much to someone who doesn’t know what that means) lol. But anyway I actually elected to have surgery in January! I had fluid touching my spine that was causing me nerve pain and sciatica pain down my right leg. And it was horrible! My doctor was not very supportive so I really feel like I was pushed into surgery! I had been struggling with my back for a while before I finally did something and pushed it to the point i could barely walk! BUT! If i had a better doctor I could have gotten through this without surgery! And in the end I feel I would have been better off! I had been on oxy for a while before surgery (10mg 3 times a day) and it still wasn’t touching the pain! I had to wait until Jan when the surgeon was available! (In order for them to get to the nerve root they actually have to remove a little piece of bone) My surgery recovery was TERRIBLE! I was in SO much pain they had me on a fentanyl drip and the 10mg of oxy 3 times a day! I was still tossing and turning in pain! This is usually a 1 night stay and i was there for 4 nights! THEN when i came home I was only home for 2 days and then had to go back to the hospital by ambulance because I was throwing up so bad! Oh and I ended up with 2 very painful saromas from ripping sutures from throwing up : ( i cant even explain what its like to throw up with sutures in your back! So back to the hospital for another 3 nights! Finally able to go home and 2 weeks later I call for a refill of my pain medication and the surgeon said this is the last meds he will give me and he talked to my reg Dr and she was unwilling to take over my pain control!! WHAT!?! I was all ready feeling yucky from such high meds given at the hospital and now they want me to just STOP! I made an appointment with my reg dr and we had a very long talk! She agreed to wean me down off the meds! She was not happy with the surgeon and hospital for having me on such high meds! Well that is not my fault! So there I was in the middle of 2 docs disagreeing with treatment and I am gonna suffer (literally) because of it! This is not okay!! Also my pain was not treated well before surgery so it made my recovery harder! I’m out of Oxy and have been for 3 days! NO FUN! My doc had me on a weaning schedule but i couldn’t stick to it because of the pain! I have been using gabapentin and Valium! I totally understand what its like to have kiddos that are relying on you and you just cant! My poor kiddo has seen me go through a lot and I really don’t like it! I’m really suffering from anxiety and depression but the gabapentin and valium help a lot! I def don’t want to feel this way at all and cant wait to feel better! I still have a bandage on my back from the last saroma healing! : ( Very discouraging!! STAY AWAY FROM THE OPIATES PEOPLE!! Don’t be a slave to it! Cause that’s what happens!! I’m feel the docs and hospitals need better training on the use of opiates for pain! The dose I had to take of gabapentin was pretty high to fight the withdrawal symptoms and i still feel yucky! Lots of love and encouragement for everyone! Anyone that doesn’t have support this is a great support system!!! KEEP FIGHTING THE FIGHT EVERYONE!

Hey Michelle, I don’t post on stuff like this but I’ll read them anyways. Furthermore, I understand what you’re saying, but it’s not completely the doctors faults. I’ve personally been on 150mg oc ir, and 120 mg morphine a day. I quit taking them, cold turkey in March as soon as I healed up from surgery pertaining to cancer. I’m a full time student as well as a small business owner, yet I got all As and 1 B in my classes during the cold turkey quitting. I felt horrid, all during midterms and finals, but stuck it out till about a month ago. I got in another car accident, probably going to have to have surgery. But I know that me taking the amount I did, was needed for pain, but it also made me feel better (more like numb) so why live that way. Pain is what makes us stronger, anyway, only when you accept you’ve got a problem, can you be free. I’m well aware of the gabapentin method, and will be quitting tomorrow. I’ve weaned in 3 days, just like last time, from 250mg, to 100mg, to 60, today at 30, tomorrow 900mg gaba pn/12hr. It really helps, only take for 1 week max, 5htp is good as well.

I use heroin on a daily basis and am just tired of living like I do. A friend gave me a bottle of gabapentin 300 mg and I’m wanting to try and detox myself from home. Does anyone have any suggestions on how much I should take at a time and how often? Answers are greatly appreciated.. Thank you..

I will be on day 1 without methadone tomorrow, my daily dose of methadone has been 5mg 3 or 4 times a day, so a total of 15 to 20 mg a day for about 2 yrs. I used to take 130mg methadone a day back in the early 2000s and the withdrawal from that was unbearable, ended up in the hospital for some time, and sent home with tramadol and clonidine. The tramadol withdrawls are just as bad as methadone for me. Anyway, I have some gabapentin, 100mg capsules, can I take this and if so how much to help with withdrawls, and when can I start taking it? Would today be ok? I can’t go through the withdrawls again, I have no means of seeing a doctor or going to a detox center, I’m on my own here.

According to the studies I linked to, the patients used gabapentin starting on day 1 off opiates. If you read this article again, you can see how much of a dosage they used in each study.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. This comment is for informational use only. It’s not intended to treat, diagnose, or prevent any disease. Always check with your doctor before changing your diet, trying any new supplements, medications, exercise or opiate tapering programs.

I have been on methadone for a little over 8 years. I take 60 mg to 120 mg a day. And I will no longer have access to methadone I have been through the withdrawals my self and it’s beyond unbearable I’d rather be dead then go through the pain this opiate has caused me they seem to have made this narcotic to eat you from the inside out… And it’s sad that there is no way to cure the withdrawals except to just continue taking the methadone it’s as if they made this drug to take over your life … There is no advise I can give. The only advise I have is if a doctor or someone on the streets offers you this methadone (aka) take your life away killer… Don’t EVER EVER TAKE IT… There is no remedy or cure from this man made hell they created methadone… Take care be safe don’t take methadone or any other man made drug smoke weed if you have to

You are not kidding. It is horrendous. I had a “doctor” put me on it for “pain” in 2010. “Worked my way up” from 40 mg a day to 100 mg a day in 4 years of seeing that POS who kindly dropped me and all his other Medicaid patients without so much as a F/U much less one more script til we could all find another doctor. Now here I am on year two of Suboxone (now Bunavail, God help me) that I got on so I could get off the Methadone and now I gotta find a way to get off this. WTF? I hope you are OK and finding out how to be free of the Methadone, but don’t bother with the Sub. You are only delaying it another period of however many years they let u stay on it. Good luck.

It all varies depending on how much heroin you are using, for how long, and other factors. Every individual is unique, so while some may benefit from smaller doses, others need larger doses to obtain the same relief. The studies I referenced appeared to have favorable results using those specific dosages.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. This comment is for informational use only. It’s not intended to treat, diagnose, or prevent any disease. Always check with your doctor before changing your diet, trying any new supplements, medications, exercise or opiate tapering programs.

Hello. I want to thank you for your work. I am a 50 year old female. I am day 4 off of vicodin. I couldn’t even tell you how many I would take a day because I was so out of control. It was my vitamins to keep me going. I had so much energy and the “High” sensation has been gone for years. It was all to get me up and keep me moving. I was on them for at least 10 years. I started abusing it to deal with a miserable abusive marriage. The rest is the same as any other opiate abuser. I tried to stop about 2 years ago with suboxone. Then I figured out the right dosage to give me a high. Then it was easier to get Vicodin so I went right back. I havent stopped since. Between prescriptions and buying them it has cost me a lot of money and today I couldn’tggive my son lunch money. Thats a damn shame. No one knows how bad I have been addicted to these pills which makes it easier to do but harder to quit.

I had withdrawal symptoms of extreme fatigue, uncontrollable RLS which I causes insomnia (which I already have since childhood), head ache. The hardest part for me is “no energy”. It bothers me so much that I am not doing anything and dont feel like it but my mind wrestles with that I should be up and adam. I have access to klonopin, requip, tylenol 3, muscle relaxers, ambien and have had bottles of gabepentin that were prescribed to me for a neck injury. So I started day 1 taking many Tylenol 3s. It helped but made everything fuzzy. I took the requip about an hour before bed then ambien for sleep. It worked a little bit. The RLS still took over so sleep was minimall but better than if I took nothing. Day 2-3 I did the same. Still lazy, agitated, restless and unmotivated. Until I did some research late into day 3 and read your stuff about gabepentin. Immediately I took 200mg and took the requip and ambien as normal and I slept like a baby last night. 🙂 Today I felt more alert and took a vitamin B12, multivitamin, a regular tylenol (for a mild headache) & 200 mg gabepentin. I felt great all day. I didnt do much but even the fighting in my mind to get going was minimized alot. I have since taken 200 mg two more times today and feel pretty good. No RLS symptoms during the day, which is a major plus! If I hadn’t read this article/forum I would still be experimenting with pills. So thank you, thank you and thank you!

Now here is my question to you. I know your not a dr. But maybe you can answer this because I will never ask my dr. So my daily prescriptions are:

Will I run into any issues with adding gabepentin? Should i still take a requip at bedtime? And I assume taking the max amount mentioned in the study is the route I should take. I know that my neurologist prescribed the gabepentin and my reg MD the rest. So they both know all my meds it should be ok? I just never used the gabepentin pills because I didn’t think they worked, only vicodin did. And all the other meds that I mentioned earlier, should I leave them alone? What vitamins can I add to benefit from? I just want this fog lifted and start enjoying my life again. Today is the 1st day that some of the fog is disappearing. Thank you for letting me vent.

Can you use phenibut with xanax? I’m detoxing from an almost 30 year methadone use. Had to almost cold turkey both 70 mg. methadone and 2 mg a xanax habit in a crap detox center. Was given clonidine for 2 days , along with serax so I didn’t have seziures from xanax wd. I was only allowed 5 days in there. I’ve been back at home and soon to be starting third week with nothing but my dr.prescribed xanax. I have not slept a night any longer than 1-2 hours and I am exhausted. Is there any hope for me ?? I have very limited funds to purchase supplements but will try anything. I’m so low I’d rather be dead than this way. The dont seem to be abating at all. Do you have any suggestions for me ?? Thanks if you can help. I’m seriously almost suicidal.

The above article says Suboxone, but the remedies can be used for methadone or other opioids as well. If you have any other questions after reading these articles, I’m more than happy to assist you. Take care.

Disclaimer: I am a Strategic Intervention Coach, not a doctor, so I can’t give professional advice regarding aspects of the body, only the mind. This comment is for informational use only. It’s not intended to treat, diagnose or prevent any disease. Always check with your doctor before changing your diet, trying any new supplements, medications, exercise or opiate tapering programs.

I am currently 24 hours withdrawing from a severe 2 year opiate addition. A friend give me 1 strip of suboxone that I have only taken less than 1/4 of in the 24 hour period. Also, currently I have a prescription of Neurotin 300 mg/x’s 3 daily. (Have only taken 300 mg in the 24 hour period because I am afraid to mix the suboxone/neurotin together). Is it ok to mix the 2 together? This is my 1st time to try suboxone and I am scared of it, but need to function during the day and sleep at night. Which I know is everyone. Thank you for this forum. It has been a lifesaver.

Would you recommend using Kratom and Gabapentin together for detox? I’ve been on 80-100 mg’s OxyContin for 5 years and am currently 24 hours into withdrawal (after a short taper). The Kratom has been helping more than I ever thought, but I want as much help to have a mild withdrawal as possible. And–thanks for all your work, it has been both enlightening and inspirational. We will get by, we will survive.

If I were in your situation and had both kratom and gabapentin, I would first use the kratom for a few days to a week, tapering the dosage towards the end, then I would use the gabapentin starting the first day off kratom. Glad you’ve been getting some value from these articles. Thanks so much for the kind words! Take care.

Disclaimer: I am a Strategic Intervention Coach, not a doctor, so I can’t give professional advice regarding aspects of the body, only the mind. This comment is for informational use only. It’s not intended to treat, diagnose or prevent any disease. Always check with your doctor before changing your diet, trying any new supplements, medications, exercise or opiate tapering programs.

Kratom works so well for me! I am on day 9 no Vicodin after a 5 year habbit. I am stopping to see how much real pain I am in. I hurt my back. The pain is real, withdrawal sucks I have a bottle of Xanax and Gabapenton but Kratom works like magic. I take 4 or 5 at a time twice a day. I also take gabapenton 3/300 3 x a day idk how well they work for me on a scale 1-10 maybe 5. I o all of you detoxing you can do it you are worth it!!! Life is so much better without it. Keep up the good work e everyone. Stay strong!!!

I too have been using the gabepenten for detox and withdrawal with great success. I’m now 5 days free from opiate s and dont plan to return. I was getting 180 roxy 30mg a month and run out every month. I’m over all the money spent on this crap and the gabepenten has made this very easy with imodium for the runs I’m doing wonderful. Just wanted to know how long do I need to continue the gabepenten as I don’t want to be a slave to yet another drug? ??

Most people just use the gabapentin for the worst of the symptoms during the acute withdrawal phase, which usually lasts 4-7 days or more for coming off roxy’s. Glad to hear the gabapentin/Imodium protocol is working so well for you! Take care.

Hello Matt, I will be coming off of suboxone and my husband has no clue I’m on it. He will take my daughter away! I’m so tired of hiding this and ready to come off. I currently take 8 mg a day and if I have no energy I’ll take another in the afternoon. With that being said…. I’ve read almost all of ur articles and I need to know what is the best to take with very little withdrawl because I know there will be some. I was planning on buying phenibut. What else at the least price can I buy to go with? I also have Xanax, but I know they won’t work alone and I’m actually scared to take them because my H will know. So if u would PLEASE take time out and write me back a complete remedy I’d appreciate it a bunch!

The Vitamin C method is very cheap…if you have the extra money, you can consider the supplements from the other articles once the acute withdrawal is over, but they are not absolutely necessary.

Disclaimer: I am a Strategic Intervention Coach, not a doctor, so I can’t give professional advice regarding aspects of the body, only the mind. This comment is for informational use only. It’s not intended to treat, diagnose or prevent any disease. Always check with your doctor before changing your diet, trying any new supplements, medications, exercise or opiate tapering programs.

I am not a doctor but those that know me consider me one. If you have severe w/d symptoms I recommend 900mg to start. Don’t be afraid about residing, just make sure ur not doing it to get a buzz and you are truly in pain. Your dose of gabapentin will be individual. Yesterday I Needed 3000mg throughout the day.

Hi just wanted to know if what you tried worked? I’m kind of in the same position except I’m married but she doesn’t know I’ve been on oxys for awhile now and having to hide the withdrawals has been a fight all on its own. I constantly come to the restroom to let out tears, embarrassment, and most of all the painful craving for more.

Hi Matt – please if you could advise, I have scrolled through but do not see anything which matches my situation. I have abused oxycodone for about 4 years now and am currently on 20mg x 5 daily (which are taken crushed). I also have a precription of Gabapentin at my disposal. I would love to try coming off which I have done multiple times without success given the withdrawal pain I feel (and zero time to slow down in my lifestyle). Can you give me an idea of how much Gabapentin to take with directions etc to ease me off Oxycontin? I would be eternally grateful to you. Huge thanks in advance.

This article showed two studies that had favorable results with the dosages they used. Also, view some other reader comments to see how much they used…because a few people have posted their success stories. Good luck to you!

I’m currently using it to lessen the withdrawal symptoms of tramadol after several years of addiction. It’s the only relief ive found, and this is the seventh attempt to remove the. Synthetic opiate from my life. Its working wonders, so far! Your article is accurate and informative.

Phenibut is extremely unpredictable in it’s effects and VERY addicting. Worse than opiate withdrawal. I’ve tried it and and became physically and psychologically dependent. I was on it for less than a week and withdrawal symptoms were like benzodiazepine withdrawal on steroids.

Hi Andrew, in my article on phenibut I recommend that if people use it to only use it for 3 days. I never got addicted to it, and many people are also able to use it responsibly for the acute withdrawal phase. I’m very sorry to hear you got addicted and had bad withdrawal symptoms. I talk about all that in detail in the following article:

This supplement works well for some, though just like benzos, tramadol, kratom and many other remedies I write about, it can become addictive, habit-forming, and result in withdrawal symptoms after a dependence has been established. That’s why I only recommend using these natural and medication-based remedies for 3-4 days during the acute phase…3 days for phenibut.

Thank you for your comment. I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to share your experience with the supplement. Take care.

According to the 2nd gabapentin study I referred to in the article, the individuals using 1600 mg/day had the best results.

Furthermore, a few others readers have commented below on what dosages of gabapentin they used to get off opiates. I will summarize them for you, but I encourage you to go through all the comments and read each one:

Sarah: I had tried to detox on SEVERAL occasions, but then I found this article. I had been prescribed Gabapentin for 2+ years, so I had it at home. I quit cold turkey with 2x 300mg Gabapentin 3x daily. I was SYMPTOM FREE!!!

HarryBellend: I’m on day 2 of opiate (that sounds so much nicer than heroin) withdrawal and the gaba is amazing! I took 1200 mg on the morning of day 1 and 1000 mg before dinner and another 1200 before bed and I slept thru the night, which has never happened on day 1 of WD. I’m on the morning of day 2, 1200 mg of gaba in and I feel pretty okay, day 2 is typically the worst but not with gaba. I’m actually going to go to work on day 2 of WD, that’s saying something as to the effectiveness of gaba.

I hope this information helps you Paula. After I wrote the article from reading the studies, I knew it could work. Then when some of my readers commented on their experience as a result of reading this article, I was simply blown away.

I hope you will share your gabapentin experience with us after your detox completion. Take care.

Hiya I’m T, I just come of herion and. Was clean for three months but stupidly messed up again, I been having 10£ worth which is 0.2grams for first three week one day on n one day off but last two week it’s been daily, I got 7 calculus of 300mg pre-Gabba due to not being prescribed n hard to get if I take two 300mg daily do you think it will help I also got sister drug gabbapentine 150mg n few Valium Pls help n let me know thank you

According to one of the study’s I referenced, the gabapentin group that took 1600 mg per day in divided dosages had less withdrawal symptoms than the group that was given 900 mg per day. I suggest you read some of the other comments on this article to see how other people minimized their symptoms as well. Good luck to you.

hello matt, I have been battling this addiction for about five years. I tried taking suboxone about a year ago and I just about died. think I took it too soon with opiates still in me. it scared the shit out of me and I never tried to detox again. can I try taking gabapentin right away, while I still have morphine and oxycodone in me? if this is possible and it works it could be a miracle drug for apiate addicti